My Father?
by glamorouspirate
Summary: Lila Mars has never met her father. She doesn't even know his name. So when she moves to Neptune, what exactly will she find out about her family?
1. Calm Before The Storm

**Disclaimer: I don't own Veronica Mars or any of it's characters. No copyright infringement intended. No money is being made from this work.**

I must have been about seven or eight years old when I first asked my mother about him.

'Mom?'

Veronica turned her head and looked down at her daughter. She smiled at the little girl, 'yeah, sweetie?'

'Do I have a dad?' I asked. The smile slid slowly off of Veronica's face as she bit her lip, thinking of an appropriate answer. 'No, sweetie, you don't have a dad…you have a father.'

I still swear to this day that she muttered under her breath, '…unfortunately.'

The next time it was mentioned was when I was eleven. We were at the school carnival. 

'Mom?' I asked.

'Yeah?' she turned back to me, holding her cotton candy in her left hand and mine in her right.

'Where does my _father_ live?'

Her eyes widened as she snapped, 'a long way away,' and handed me my cotton candy, turning away from me, as if to completely avoid the subject.

I wrote an essay about it last year. The task was, 'write an essay about a member of your family.'

I supposed that I had two choices, Grandpa Mars or my mother. But, seriously, how much attention did I want to attract to myself, talking about my totally awesome PI of a grandpa or my famous photographer of a mother. No, I went for a subject completely out of left field. My father.

_My Father _

_By Lila Mars_

_I've never met my father. I don't even know his name. When my mother talks about him (which is rarely) she only calls him by 'ass,' or 'moron,' or 'jerk.'_

_I don't know where he's from, or what he does, or if I have half brothers and sisters. I have no idea if he even knows I exist, if he even knows my name._

_If I ever meet my 'mystery father,' I'm not sure whether I'll punch him for not being there or hug him, because I finally have a dad. _

_I'd bet my collection of stuffed toy animals that I am the product of an alcohol-induced one night stand, but if I was bold enough to tell my mother this, I'd be grounded._

_One day, I'll meet him, and judge for myself whether to call him 'ass,' 'moron,' 'jerk' or 'dad.'_

Yes, this was the essay that got me into the principal's office for a meeting. Me, Mrs Hargrove (the principal) and my mother. Yay!

Mrs Hargrove got straight down to business after my mother arrived. I had already been pulled out of PE (which I was really pissed about because we were playing basketball) and was sitting opposite the headmaster, arms crossed over my chest and scowl on my face for a more dramatic look.

'Thanks for coming, Ms Mars,' said the principal.

'It's no problem.'

'Look, Veronica, I am a bit concerned about your home situation.'

Mom looked shocked. 'Oh… right, continue, please.'

'Lila wrote this essay last week for Mr Landers English class. He was…worried.'

I winced as mom took the essay from the old woman's hand. Damn! If I had known that she would show that to my mom, I would never have submitted it.

I watched her facial expressions carefully as she scanned the paper. She virtually glared daggers into me, once she'd finished.

'Sorry to bring the school into this, Mrs Hargrove, but everything's fine. Lila's just being a bit overdramatic about the circumstances, that's all.'

Hargrove tried a small smile, 'I'm sure. But I'd still rather Lila attend a weekly counseling session.'

This is when I moved schools.

'Lila, what the hell were you thinking?' she practically yelled at me, closing the front door behind me and holding the essay in front of my face.

Mom had insisted that she take me home right there. The car ride had been…torturous silence.

'Mom, chill!'

'Lila,' she slumped into the lounge chair, defeated. 

'What if I just want to know him? Have you read that essay properly?'

'Yes, and trust me, you're better off not knowing him. Trust me, Lila.'

'Okay, I trust you. But trust _me,_one day; I'm going to want a name, an address, a picture. Anything! And you're going to give me everything you have.'

'Well it's a good thing I don't have anything on that loser, then.' She glanced back down at the paper. 'And you're right…'

'About anything in particular? Because if not, I'm going to have to presume that I'm right about everything.'

'Alcohol-induced one night stand. And I learnt my lesson, never; ever sleep with someone that you can't stand,' she looked at me, 'actually, never sleep with anyone. Ever.'

I laughed at my mother. 'Lila!' she said all sternly, like. 'Seriously, it was one of the biggest mistakes…'

'Are you saying that I was an accident?' I asked sarcastically.

'No, sweetie, no… well, you were, but that's not the point. The point is, you're the only good thing that moron ever did.'

Now. Now it's a year later. And I'm fifteen years old, almost sixteen. I have hardly mentioned my father since that day, but he's always in the back of my mind.

One night, I was supposed to be going to this hottie David's party. 

Instead, my mom wouldn't let me out and was being a total bitch. This resulted in The. Biggest. Argument. Ever. 

Which resulted in me telling her that I was going to move in with Grandpa Mars. Indefinitely.

She told me that it was my decision, and that she wasn't going to try and stop me if that was what I wanted. 

'No, mom, what I want is to know who my father is!'

'Oh not this again, Lila!'

'Yes, this again, mom. It will always come to this for the rest of my life, until I meet him.'

'Lila, you're better off…'

'Please, mom, why can't I just judge whether I am better off or not for myself! I'm not five years old! I can think for myself, you know!'

She crossed her arms over her chest. 'Fine, go to Neptune, then, if that's how it's going to be.'

'It is. I'm going to book my ticket now.' I said, and I walked into my room, turning on my laptop.

The one thing about my mother and I, we are both stubborn, stubborn people. 

After the ticket was bought for three hours later, I tracked down the largest suitcase that we owned and packed as many of my belongings as I could into it. I wore layer upon layer of clothing so that I could take lots of clothes and made my way into the lounge.

'My flight leaves in an hour,' I stated.

'Lila…'

'Mom, I want to go to Neptune. Please.'

'Fine,' she said, as she got up from the couch and I heard the keys rattle. 

The drive to the airport was silent.

And the waiting at the gate was full of awkward conversations. Most were started by my mother saying something like, 'What about your friends, Lil?' And me answering, 'They'll understand, and anyway, we were never _that_ close.'

Which was true. I preferred to do things alone. And anyway, there weren't many decent people that attended a posh private school like, 'Saint Mary's.'

'And what about me? What am I going to do?' she asked.

'Get a life?' I asked with a smile. She frowned at me. 'Come on, mom, seriously. You can go out partying and meet some friends… you hardly have any of those.'

'Maybe I don't want or need any friends,' she replied.

'So you've always been a serial loner?' I asked. She squirmed a little in her seat but kept her eyes on the floor.

'No, no of course not. I used to have friends. Kick ass friends if I do say so myself,' she began to smile, but it wasn't one of her usual smiles. It was one of those that she had when she used to tell me about Grandpa Mars and Neptune, before she left.

'What happened?' I asked quietly. 

Her face grew sad, like it always did these days. 'Well…everyone grew up, and got on with their lives, and I got left behind,' she said.

I didn't have a reply to that, but then I felt her hand on top of mine, which was resting on my knee. 'Just…' she tried to use the right wording, '…make the most out of it, Lila. But I think you'll be just fine.'

'Thanks, mom.'

I gave her a hug as I boarded the plane, all set for Neptune, California.

To be continued...

**Thanks for reading! Please give some feedback, it is appreciated and it fuels me to write quicker.**

**By the way, the name of the chapters are titles of Fall Out Boy songs. I don't own them, I just heart them.**

**So, you should have figured by now that ****this story is set way into the future, after the third season. Except Sheriff Lamb is still alive. He's a fun character and should never have been killed off in my opinion.****  
**

**Peace out.**


	2. Grenade Jumper

The flight was…eventful, to say the least. I was seated right next to some lady from the South who wore way too much perfume and way too much make-up and kept telling me that I was 'such a doll,' and, 'such a pretty young thing.'

I swear, I was about ready to punch her out when we got to Neptune, where I collected my luggage from the baggage collection and realised that I had left one very important detail out in my grand plan.

The fact that I had failed to inform my Grandfather to expect a permanent houseguest. Yikes!

I guiltily brought my cell phone out of my messenger bag that hung off of my left shoulder and dialed his cell.

'Lila! How's my girl, huh?' he asked.

'Hey Pop, I 'm good thanks. Hey, I was wondering if I could ask you a really big favour… could you come and pick me up from the airport?'

Keith Mars arrived fifteen minutes later, looking extremely surprised, but happy as he swooped down and bear hugged me, taking my humungous suitcase from my hand.

'So, kid, what's the story?' he asked, as he put a arm across my shoulder and pulled me closer to his side.

I tucked a stray brown hair (that had obviously evaded my ponytail) behind my ear.

'I…needed a break. I just want to live in Neptune for a while…if that's okay?'

He sighed, 'You had a fight with your mom, didn't you?'

It was my turn to sigh. 'Yes.'

'And you are always welcome to stay with me, always.' He kissed the top of my head. 'It's good to see you finally in Neptune.'

Oh, yeah. I've never been here before. My mother avoids it at all costs, but I've always wanted to see my Pop in his natural environment. He usually comes to visit us in Boston. 

I was settled into my mom's old room by bedtime. And pop informed me that if this was going to be a long-term thing, that I was to be enrolled at Neptune High on Monday.

I was ready to become a pirate. Argh!

* * *

So I am standing out the front of Neptune High School, watching kids _my age_ as they get out of their convertibles and other really cool, expensive cars.

I grip my bag nervously- it's a habit, and start walking towards the entrance. 

I had managed to collect my new timetable and locker number from the vice principal's office before the first bell rang, but I'm still late for first period – which just happens to be English. 

According to my timetable, English is being held in room 31. Wherever that is. So, I am getting even more scared and a little bit anxious as my watch continues to tick, and I'm the _only_ person still in the hall. 

Okay, maybe I should keep walk in this direction, I think to myself, as I start to turn a corner.

'Oof!' I felt the wind being knocked out of me, and I realised that I was on the ground and that my elbow hurt badly from hitting the floor. I hadn't seen what had hit me, because the whole thing had been so sudden.

A tanned boy with brown hair stepped a few paces back, holding his wrist tenderly for a second before he realised that he had actually run into a person, who was still on the ground.

'I am so sorry,' he said, as he leaned over and outstretched his hand to help me up with.

I ignored it. And helped myself up.

'It's okay,' I said.

'I'm running really late for English,' he said quickly. 'I wasn't looking where I was…'

'Wait, do you have English with Mrs Brauer?' 

His left eyebrow quirked up. 'Yeah, why?'

'I'm new.'

'That explains everything,' he said, as he gripped his books and started to walk, waiting as to make sure that I was still with him. 'I'm Alex,' he said with a grin.

'Lila.'

He was the first person that I met at Neptune High School. The second person that I was introduced to was a girl named Taylor. I was in PE, my favourite lesson, and we were dividing into pairs for badminton.

She had walked up next to me and said, 'Hi, I'm Taylor. Partner?'

'Sure,' I replied. 'I'm Lila.'

'Did you know that Lila means purple in German?' she asked, flashing me a grin.

'Actually I was aware.' I said truthfully. 

'So, are you ready to kick these bimbo's butts?' she asked. This comment made me laugh, because, surely enough, the girls on the other side of the net, whilst looking pretty, also looked as if they had pieces of fluff between their ears instead of brains. 

I nodded eagerly, and was surprised when I saw that Taylor could play. In just about every school I had been to, I had been one of the few, if not the only girl who actually had some sporting talent, or who actually wanted to participate in PE. 

But Taylor seemed cool; she was an African-American girl (my mother had always taught me to use the proper terminology) who had long, braided hair and wore fluorescent pink nail polish that clashed magnificently against her dark skin.

When our pair ended up winning the round-robin tournament, she had come over to me and said, 'You should come and find me at lunch,' with a grin.

I smiled back at her.

The next lesson that I had was Newspaper. Back at St Mary's I had been involved with 'Yearbook' class, but I hadn't enjoyed it. They had made me write boring articles about prom and homecoming and the cheerleading team winning the state championship. 

All I really wanted to do was take photos, and I told that to the teacher, while a tall, pretty, blonde girl stood next to her, looking me up and down.

'Why don't you talk to Cassie, perhaps she can give you something to do?' the teacher suggested, as she motioned towards the blonde girl who had been standing next to her. This must be Cassie. The teacher walked back to her desk and the girl named Cassie walked away.

I followed her shyly, and she was obviously surprised that I had when she sat down next to her friends and acted like she had just noticed me. 'Oh. What are you doing here?'

'The teacher said…'

'Oh… right,' she said as she remembered. 'Well, I don't have anything for you to do, so maybe you should go and see if _Andreas_ needs any help,' she said, saying his name with disgust, as she pointed towards a scary looking, big guy who was slumped over a chair and looking intently over at us.

Her redheaded friend giggled, along with the girl with the pixie face on her left.

I looked back at Cassie. 'Actually, I'd rather not.'

Cassie rolled her eyes. 'Right. Well, I guess that you can help him then,' she motioned towards a boy who looked as if he'd fallen asleep at his desk. 'Jack is cute, but_I've _never heard him say a word. Even when I'm way friendly to him, he never says anything, just walks away. He's totally spaced out.'

'I think he's just shy,' said the redhead.

'You would, Stacey, you've never come to the conclusion that maybe, a guy just isn't interested in you,' said the girl with the pixie face meanly. 

I took a breath. 'Well, thanks, guys,' I said sarcastically as I walked slowly away from Cassie and her crusade of bimbos' bitch fight waiting to happen and towards mysterious, sleepy boy.

I pulled up a chair, and I saw him open his left eye through a crack in his arms.

'Jack?' I asked shyly. 'I'm-'

He lifted his head from the table and interrupted me, 'Lila Mars, I know. And call me JD.'

I was confused; either Cassie had been lying to me, or I had actually cracked this guy. When I looked back at Cassie and her friends, I saw that each of them had identical looks of shock on their faces, and I smiled to myself smugly. 

'How do you know my name?' I asked.

'I'm observant,' he replied. I gave him a quizzical look before he grinned and explained, 'I saw you in the office, getting your timetable this morning.'

'Oh, right,' I said. 

'So, you want to head down to the bleachers, so we can _pretend_ to be doing an interview with the lacrosse team?' 

'Pretend?' I asked quickly. 

He must have noticed the look of question on my face. 'Don't worry, I'm not going to pass my hip flask around so we can get wasted, or try and sexually assault you, or bring out my bong,' he chuckled, before leaning in closer to me and saying quietly, 'Newspaper is a waste of a lesson. Nothing remotely exciting ever happens here. The _only _articles that are printed are those written by the 09ers,' he threw a look in Cassie's direction disgustedly.

'09ers?'

'You must be new! 09ers are people who live in the 90909 zip code. Spoilt, rich kids basically. Kids like Cassie and her herd of bimbo's and boy toy's over there.'

'Not a fan?' I asked.

He chuckled. 'You got that right.'

'They said that you have never said a word to them.'

JD downright laughed at this. A low, rumble that made me smile. 'That's because I don't want to waste my time,' he said.

'And how did you know that I wasn't an 09er when I got here?' I asked out of curiosity.

'Well, apart from the fact that you're not really wearing the 09er fashion standards…'

'Oh, my bad, it seems like I forgot my Gucci dress this morning,' I said sarcastically. He grinned.

'Apart from that, I saw Cassie and the others giving you the infamous 09er snob off.'

I nodded my head slowly. 'Right.'

He looked out of the corner of his eye for a moment before noticing that I was watching him. 'Do you know him?' He asked, as he nodded his head slightly towards that scary Andreas guy. 

'No. Why?'

'Nothing. Just he keeps looking over here, which is weird… maybe he's decided that he's going to bash me because my dad arrested him again…'

I looked over at the scary biker dude. And I was quite disturbed when he flashed me a grin of those white teeth (well they looked particularly white against his brown skin) and winked at me. 

'I think we should go down to the bleachers,' if only to avoid that guy's scary gaze. 

JD smiled at me and gathered his things together and when we exited the classroom, I could still feel scary biker dude's eyes following us.

'So what's the deal with him? You said that he's been arrested?'

'On several occasions,' said JD, opening the double doors that led out to the quad. 'Nothing major of course, just petty crimes. Apparently he takes after his dad, but that's just what I've heard.'

'My, my, you have quite the mouth for gossip, JD,' I teased. He grinned at me. 

'I just pick up things,' he said modestly. 

We made small talk all the way to the bleachers; he had asked me about Boston, and I had asked him about the school. He seemed nice enough, and like Cassie said, cute too, maybe not as cute as that guy Alex in the hall. Alex was hot, and if his cocky smirk had alerted me to anything, he knew it too.

'You should come and sit with me at lunch,' he said, as we sat down on the bleachers. 

I squirmed uncomfortably. 'Actually, I was going to sit at somebody else's table… how about tomorrow?'

He shrugged. 'Sure, but I have to say, I'm a little heartbroken that you declined my offer of sitting at my lunch table,' he said sarcastically with a pout. 'Who's your friend?'

'I'm not sure if I have any friends yet, but I'm working on it,' I said. 'Her name's Taylor, she's in my PE class.'

He nodded his head in understanding. 'Ahhh, yes, I know the one.'

'You don't like her?' I asked, judging by his tone, he obviously didn't.

'I don't know her. Up until recently, she was one of them, then I think she had a falling out with Cassie or something,' he scratched the back of his head. 'They used to be best friends.'

'Really? I would _never_ have picked that! She seemed cool,' I said. 

'I guess. She sits with a whole bunch of the PCHers. I think she's dating Andreas' brother.'

'What's a PCHer?' I asked whilst opening my bottle of water and taking a sip.

'It's the name of the bike club, The Pacific Coast Highway Motorcycle Club. The scary guy from Newspaper, Andreas is their 'leader," he used air quotes as he explained it bitterly. 'The members of the PCH bike club are called PCHers.'

'Taylor is dating scary big guy's brother?' I asked astonished.

'I think so. But he's nowhere near as scary as Andreas. I mean, they're twins but Jonas hardly ever gets in trouble. He's a little different from the mould.'

When we heard the overhead bell ring, we were both a little surprised at how quick that period had gone. 

'Well,' he said as a smile crept across his lips, 'nice meeting you. I guess I'll see you tomorrow at lunch, if I don't see you before.'

'I guess it's a plan,' I said as I walked down the stairs.

* * *

When lunchtime came, I was a little nervous to go over and sit with Taylor and the PCHers, who looked much more scary and threatening in a group, like they were in now, than alone. 

I spotted the PCH table immediately. It's members looked quite menacing, but I couldn't spot Taylor anywhere. 

I almost jumped when someone grabbed my arm and started to lead me towards the center of the quad. When I noticed that it was Taylor, I relaxed a little.

'Hey Lila,' she said.

'Hey Taylor. Look, are you sure about…'

She must have read my mind. 'Trust me, they're _not_ as bad as they look.'

I noticed Andreas staring at me as we slided into the cool yellow seat, some of the other bikers making room for us. I could only hear snippets of their previous conversation, but I could hear them say something about "River Styx," and "going down," before Andreas said, 'Guys!' shutting them all up.

'Who's your friend?' he asked, raising his eyebrows at me as he addressed Taylor. 

'This is Lila. She's new.' 

'I figured,' he said.

'Hey, chica,' said another boy as he approached the table and took a seat next to Taylor, putting a tray down in front of her and another in front of himself.

'Jonas, this is Lila, she's cool,' Taylor said as she smiled at him.

'Lila, this is my boy Jonas, and that's Des, Pablo, Rusty and Andreas.'

Andreas gave me a rough salute as he was introduced to me. I just smiled weakly. 

'So Lila, are you coming to Rusty's this weekend? He's having a few people around,' asked Jonas interestedly.

'Um…'

'Actually, I heard that Cassie's throwing a kegger on the beach. I was going to show Lila how to shake things up…'

'And I'm not sure if your girl is…_ready_ to come to Rusty's this weekend,' said Andreas to Taylor.

I wasn't sure what he meant, but I would seriously rather go to an 09er kegger than do something with a bunch of these guys.

I smiled weakly at Taylor, who smiled back and whispered, 'don't worry, I won't make you do anything with the guys if you don't want to.'

'So, little miss 'it thing' is throwing a kegger, hey?' asked Pablo. Taylor nodded whilst taking a sip from her soda.

'That's what I heard,' said Taylor.

'We might drop in there later, after we've finished our…business,' Pablo said, as he cracked his knuckles.

'Meaning?' I whispered as quietly as I could to Taylor. 

She sighed and replied to the group, rolling her eyes, 'meaning that they plan to crash the party.' Some of the guys started to laugh at this.

'Oh.'

The rest of lunch continued on in the same fashion, and when the bell rang, Taylor said decidedly in the commotion, 'So, Cassie's party this weekend, we're crashing.'

I smiled at her and nodded my head. Maybe I should have sat with JD today. I wasn't quite sure what Taylor and the PCHers idea of 'crashing' was, but I was sure that it wasn't going to end well.

She grinned and walked away saying a goodbye in the rush. I found that the rest of the PCHers had already headed off, so I bent down to grab my bag from the isolated bench when I noticed some words etched into the table.

_Veronica and Wallace forever!_

My mouth visibly dropped, and I abandoned my bag and took a seat back down, studying the words. 

If this Veronica was indeed my mother, then this was my first clue regarding my paternity. Who was Wallace? Were he and my mother an item? And even if they weren't, maybe he would know something about my real father.

I had my first clue, but where do I go from here? I had to find out if the Veronica was my mom, and if she had indeed known a Wallace in high school.

I had to find someone that knew her

To be continued….

**A/N Thanks so much for reading! Everyone's reviews from the first chapter were so positive, so thanks for reviewing, and please drop me a line regarding this chapter!**

**Okay, so here's the thing, I know that this chapter doesn't have much of a storyline regarding Lila's father (apart from the last few lines) but I had to introduce some of the main characters into the story.**

**Brownie points for anyone who correctly guesses who the next generation of Neptune High Schoolers belong to (who are their parents?) and MAJOR brownie points for anyone who can correctly guess who Lila's real father is (I know it's still early days and there's not much to work with.) **

**Cheers once again for reading, and reviews just make me write faster, and smile more.**

**Peace out.**


	3. You're Crashing, But You're No Wave

**A/N Thanks so much for all of your kind reviews! It was way awesome to have so many people guess who all the kids belonged to!**

**And now, on with the third installment… **

All week long, Taylor had reminded me that we were crashing Cassie's party on Saturday night. Every time she asked me, I always put on my biggest smile that I could muster and nodded enthusiastically. 

Truthfully though, I really wasn't sure about the whole thing. Okay, so I had spent Wednesday and Thursday sitting with the PCHers at lunch, and I had gotten over my fear of them a little. But sometimes I would hear snippets of their conversations that my mother probably wouldn't approve of.

I felt comfortable around Taylor and Jonas though. Jonas was, without a doubt, the nicest biker. In fact, if I had met him on the street, I would have never thought that he would ever be involved in any kind of illegal activity. Of course Taylor kept telling me that Jonas wasn't into the club; that he just sat with his brother and his brother's friends at lunch.

Still, I wasn't entirely sure about going to Cassie's party. I was seriously considering calling Taylor on Saturday and convincing her that I was too sick to go.

On Tuesday and Friday I had sat with JD at lunch. If JD hadn't shown me himself where he sat, I probably would never have found it. He didn't sit out in the courtyard with the rest of the kids, but out to the side of the school, under a tree next to a fountain.

The only other people that sat out here were some of the 09er boys, but only a few. I recognized that guy Alex leaning up against the next tree talking to a couple of other guys, whilst tossing a mini football absently between both hands.

JD and I got along really well. We had the same sense of humor, and so, I would usually crack up laughing when he explained and imitated different teachers or his parents. 

When Saturday rolled around, I was about to call Taylor and put on a fake cough when there was a knock on the door. 

I answered it, only to find that the phone call was no longer necessary. Taylor was at my door, in the flesh.

'Hey, surprise!' she said with a mischievous grin. 

'Wh- hey,' I replied, a little stunned as she looked expectantly at my living room past my shoulder. I got the general gist of what she wanted and opened the door, so that she could walk into the apartment.

'Cozy,' she commented, as she took a seat on the couch.

'So, what's going on?' I asked, deciding that was the most polite way to say, "What the hell are you doing here?"

'Well, my dad has a game tonight, and I told him that I was going to a party, but he doesn't quite trust me at home alone. I think he thinks that I'm going to trash the place or something. So I told him that I could stay at your place and we could go to the party together. I hope that's okay?'

'Its fine,' I heard myself say.

She smiled. 'Good, because he doesn't quite approve of Jonas, in fact, I think he more or less hates him. But he seemed to think you were okay when I described you. Not that he's even met you or anything, but he hasn't even met Jonas either. And he was seriously tripping out when I told him that you lived in this apartment building. He said that he knew a girl that used to live around here, so I think you've gained serious brownie points with my dad already.'

'Well, that's comforting,' I said sarcastically. 

'So, what are you wearing tonight?' she asked, as she looked at my outfit; a hoodie and sweatpants. 

Taylor, of course, was dressed in a yellow boob tube and a black skirt. I could see the outline of her blue bikini underneath her top.

'This?' I tried. She laughed as she pointed at my bedroom door.

'Yours?'

I nodded, and she continued to my closet.

Two hours later, we were all dolled up and ready to go. Taylor said that she needed to make a stop back at her house before we went to the party. By now it was dark, but Pop didn't seem to have a problem with driving us to Taylor's. He seemed to like my new friend, and more surprisingly, he didn't have any problems with us going out. 

'Just don't be home too late, and make sure you call if you intend on staying at Taylor's,' he said, as we waved him goodbye from the front lawn of Taylor's house.

I was initially impressed and wowed when I saw the house; it was quite big, almost a mansion. The inside was just as nice, with huge pillars and a water feature inside the house. Now I completely understood what JD was going on about when he said "09er-dom."

'Grab a drink if you're thirsty,' said Taylor, as she started to climb the stairs, 'I'll only be like two seconds.'

As I lost sight of Taylor up the stairs, I wandered around the hall, studying the pictures on the wall; there was a whole section dedicated to what looked like the LA basketball team shots. Someone must have been a big fan, and I was betting her dad or brother.

As I heard Taylor come back down the stairs, now with jacket in hand, I pointed at one of the pictures, 'big fan?'

'You could say,' she said, as she joined me, looking at the picture herself. It was this year's team shot. She pointed at one of the players in the front row. 'My brother.'

My eyes widened, 'seriously?'

She laughed. 'Yeah,' her hand shot towards another person, wearing different clothes from the rest of the players. 'My dad.'

Now I didn't follow basketball as much as I followed baseball, but even I recognized that man. He was often called the best coach the league has ever seen. Wal Fennel, who was apparently, Taylor's dad.

Taylor's giggle broke my reverie. 'You'll catch flies if you don't close your mouth.'

I closed it quickly. 'Sorry…are you serious?'

She sighed. 'Deadly. So, we can absolutely get you good tickets,' she smiled. 'Now come on, are we crashing, or not? We can walk to the beach from here, it's not far.'

I nodded as I followed Taylor out of the house and onto the street, falling in next to her as we walked down the streets.

It took less than ten minutes before we were walking towards the light of the bonfire and the noise of the boom boxes from the party.

'Ready to do this?' Taylor asked me with a grin.

I nodded, 'Yup, as ready as I'll ever be.'

As we got closer to the group, a lot of people started to notice us. I realized that we were receiving a lot of dirty looks from the crowd. Perhaps they were for me, but my presumption was that they were intended for Taylor. Man, she must be seriously disliked.

'Wanna drink?' Taylor asked, as she pointed at the keg.

'Nah, I'm okay,' I said. I was pretty sure that Pop would be unimpressed if I came home drunk.

'Suit yourself,' said Taylor, as she walked towards the keg, taking a cup from a stack on the sand.

I stood awkwardly in front of the fire, just basking in it's warmth before someone bumped my shoulder softly. I turned around and came face to face with Alex, the guy that had knocked me over in the hall on my first day.

'Well if it isn't…' he closed his eye and clicked his fingers, as if trying to remember my name. 'Lila, right?'

'That would be correct,' I said.

'I see that you haven't been supplied with a drink. Want one?' he asked, raising his own cup in his hand.

'No thanks, I'm not a big drinker.'

'Me neither,' he said. Alex leaned in a little closer, tipping his cup slightly in my direction and whispered, 'Diet soda, but if you tell anyone, I'm going to have to kill you.'

I raised my three middle fingers in a scout's honour, 'I promise I won't tell,' I said with a laugh.

Taylor sauntered her way back to us. 'Taylor, how have you been, girl?' Alex asked fondly, as he hugged her with one arm.

'Not too bad,' she said, 'you know…what with my ousting from the 09er club.' I saw Alex shift guiltily from one foot to the other. 'I see you've met Lila here,' she added, changing the obviously awkward subject.

Alex nodded. 'We ran into each other. Like literally, ran into each other.'

'Actually, it was more you running into me. I was just an innocent bystander,' I said, which caused him to chuckle.

'I'm surprised to see you here,' he said generally to both of us, but he was obviously expecting a response from Taylor.

'I just wanted to show Lila around, and plus, no one said that it was a private party,' she shrugged.

Alex clicked his tongue, 'You know Cassie's not going to like this.'

'I don't really care. And anyway, we won't be here for that long.'

Alex put his hands up in surrender. 'Okay, okay, but don't say you weren't warned! Nice to meet you again, Lila. See you T,' he said, before walking away.

'I'm just going to sit over there for a while,' said Taylor, as she pointed to the other side of the bonfire, 'are you going to be okay by yourself for a bit?'

I nodded, 'yeah, sure.' Lie. I didn't want to be left alone with a group of people who I didn't know, and who probably didn't like me.

'Okay,' she said, as she walked away, taking a sip of her drink whilst making tracks through the sand.

As I watched Taylor walk away, I also saw her get ambushed by Cassie and another girl. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but it didn't seem like a pleasant discussion, in fact, it got quite heated before Cassie and her friend walked away.

I decided to take a seat down on the nearest log, and was surprised when a guy came and sat down next to me. He looked older than everyone else, yeah, he was definitely older. A college boy maybe? Anyway, he had shaggy blonde hair and a cocky grin. He was quite attractive, if you liked the whole 'surfer boy-I just got out of bed look.'

'Hey, how's it going?' he asked.

'Not too bad. Yourself?'

'Yeah, apart from this party being shit boring,' he said, as he took a drag on his beer, which I noticed was in a bottle, not a cup.

'Then why are you here?' I asked. It didn't look as if he had some whiny girlfriend trailing after him.

'The old man asked me to "chaperone,"' he used air quotes, 'Cass's little shindig.'

I nodded. 'Right, and I'm guessing you have some step-brother/cousin quota you are filling.'

He chuckled. 'No, just an older brother quota,' he said, flicking the hair out of his face.

I mouthed the word 'right.'

'So, I'm going back to my secret stash to get another beer,' he said, lifting his current bottle up to show that it was empty. 'If you'd like to join me, you're more than welcome.'

'Sure. Since I've got nothing better to do,' I said, as I eagerly jumped off the log and followed him.

His esky was quite a way out from the rest of the party, but still close enough that you could see what was going on around the bonfire.

'This has been my spot for most of the night,' he said, as he tapped the lid of the esky. I wasn't paying attention to him however; my eyes had found the silhouettes of two people sitting a bit farther down on the beach, a girl and a boy. The girl seemed to be crying, and was leaning into him for comfort. 

The blonde boy that I was with (still hadn't introduced himself properly) looked out to where I was looking. 'I wouldn't even bother with those two. I stopped trying to figure them out _long_ ago,' he said, as he opened another beer. 'You want one?'

'I'm good. Who are they?' I asked curiously.

'Alex and my dimwitted little sister. Honestly, I thought he had a little better taste than that!'

'Are they a couple?'

Blonde boy shrugged. 'I have _no idea_ what the deal is with those two.'

I nodded. 'Right.'

'Got a little crush on my boy Alex, hey?' he asked, wagging his eyebrows at me.

'No. No! I don't even know him. I'm completely new. I hardly know anyone, actually,' I said.

'Well, you know me. I'm Richie, by the way,' he said, as he offered his hand for me to shake. I shook it timidly. 

'Lila,' I said.

'Nice. So, Lila, want to fool around? Make this party a little more exciting?'

I scoffed. How exactly, in a manner of seconds, had this friendly conversation turned into an invitation to fool around? 'Actually, I'm good. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that's illegal,' I said, meaning our age difference. He looked a little older than eighteen.

'Only if we get caught. So, what do you say?'

'I say no. And I'm leaving now.'

He jumped off the esky and grabbed my arm. 'Wait, don't go. I'm sorry. You don't have to go. I was kidding!' He tried to convince me, but I wasn't buying it. 'It won't happen again. Just stay, its boring sitting here by myself.'

I shook him loose of my grip. 'Fine, I'll stay… Didn't you have any friends that were willing to "chaperone" with you?' I asked.

He shook his shaggy head. 'There was this blowout at one of the frat houses tonight. Biggest party of the year. I'm pissed that I missed it, it's an awesome night. But dad said that I had to be here, and Cass persuaded me.'

'Oh, yeah, how exactly?'

'More like bribed me.'

Our conversation was interrupted by a low rumble of… was that an earthquake or a bunch of motorcycles? As the noise got louder, I figured that it was a bunch of motorcycles. And they had pulled up onto the beach, right near the party. Several guys lifted their helmets off and started to make their way towards the group.

'What's going on here?' Richie murmured under his breath, as he got off the esky and made his way over towards the group. I followed after him timidly. 

All I could hear was some shouts as we walked over there, our view was blocked by the crowd that was gathered. When I finally got a look in at what was going on, Pablo was throwing punches at some 09er, whilst the rest of the PCHers made sure no one else interrupted.

'We know what you did, Harry, and there's no way you're getting away with it this time,' said Andreas, as he watched Pablo beat the boy, Harry.

Richie made his way towards the center. 'Hey man, we don't want any trouble,' he said loudly to the PCHers.

Andreas just laughed. 'We don't want no problems either; Harry has brought this beating on himself, rich boy.'

I looked around and saw Jonas looking down sheepishly as more people gathered around. Now, a couple of other 09ers were helping Harry get up. He snarled as he wiped the blood from his nose. 'Oh you are going to regret that. All of you,' he warned.

'Ooh, I'm so scared,' said Rusty sarcastically, as he followed this statement with laughter.

As the other 09ers left Harry's side, Pablo took another swing at him, hitting him square in the jaw. 

Before anyone could react though, flashing blue and red lights were surrounding them, and a loudspeaker rang out on the beach. 'This is the Balboa County Sheriff's department. Stay where you are.'

Suddenly, there was a rush of people running in different directions, trying to get as far away from the party as possible. I felt somebody grab onto my arm and lead me away in the commotion. It was Taylor. 'Come on,' she urged. 

She was leading me towards the group of motorbikes. When she got there, she jumped on the back of one of them, behind Jonas. 'Go with Andreas.'

I looked worriedly over at Andreas. He threw his helmet at me and I caught it.

'You gonna hop on, or you gonna get arrested?' he asked when I hesitated.

I made my way towards the bike, and he took off his jacket and handed it to me before I could get on. 'Put this on. You'll be cold,' he said, as he took in my flimsy outfit.

I put the jacket on awkwardly, before swinging one leg over the side of the bike.

'Hold onto my waist, unless you _want_ to ruin your pretty face,' he warned. I held onto him loosely, smelling the scent of his leather jacket in the process. It smelt like cigarettes and gas. But I had no time to be grossed out, because we were riding away from the beach almost immediately. 

Andreas was speeding away, which caused me to cling as tight as I could to his waist. I heard him laugh in the wind. We rode for a couple of minutes before another bike came up and rode next to us. I recognized Jonas and Taylor on the back. She waved at me, obviously a little more confident than I was to take a hand away from Jonas's waist than I was Andreas'.

We were headed towards the PCH, from what I could concur. We were halfway there when not one, but two police cars were turning their sirens on, motioning for us to pull over. 

Andreas started slowing. 'Here we go,' he said, so that I could hear. I saw him and Jonas exchange skeptical looks.

When we stopped altogether, Andreas took his time getting slowly off the bike, and made a show of putting the stop down. I jumped off the bike too as a couple of cops made their way towards us. 

The one taking the lead was striding towards us with confidence in his step, as the one that followed stayed a couple of steps behind the first guy. It was obvious who held the power.

Taylor came and stood next to me, wrapping her arms over her chest to keep herself warm. I pulled down the sleeves of Andreas' jacket in nervousness, even though I had nothing to be nervous about. 

'Well, well, well,' said the cop taking the lead. He was chewing a piece of gum; he obviously thought that it made him look more important. I thought that it made him look like more of an asshole. Both cops were wearing some ugly uniform, but the guy in front had a gold star on his top. The sheriff. All that the cop behind him had was a huge, ugly moustache on his top lip.

'If it isn't the troublesome Navarro twins,' he smirked.

'Sheriff,' said Jonas immediately. 

'Deputy,' said Andreas, with a grin.

'Son, I haven't been a deputy since before you were born. You've been listening to your old man again.'

'So what if I have? Even without listening to my father, I know that Keith Mars would make a better sheriff than you.'

I took notice as soon as they said Pop's name. What exactly were they talking about?

The sheriff nodded with a small, sarcastic smile for a moment. 

'So, what's the deal, sheriff? You know we were at the 09er kegger, and you're here to arrest us?' Andreas asked sarcastically.

The sheriff smirked. 'I _do_ know you were at that kegger, Navarro. And I have about twenty eye witnesses that say that you and your brother here assaulted Harry Packer. Would that be about right?'

Andreas shook his head. 'Ah hell no. I had nothing to do with Harry getting what he deserved.'

The sheriff nodded his head. 'Cuff 'em, Sacks.' The mustached officer headed towards the boys. Jonas immediately put his hands behind his back, ready for handcuffs, but Andreas didn't move.

'We had nothing to do with Packer getting hit. You can't prove anything!'

'Twenty eye witnesses says differently,' said the sheriff.

Andreas put his hands behind his back, letting Sacks cuff him. 'So a bunch of rich, white 09ers say one word, and they must be telling the truth?' 

'Andreas and Jonas Navarro you are both under arrest. Anything you say can, and will be used against you in the court of law,' said the sheriff boredly as he read them their rights. 

After he finished, and Sacks was driving the boys away, the sheriff turned to Taylor and me. 

'Well, what do we have here?' he asked interestedly, as he looked Taylor over. 'You're the Fennel kid, right?' Taylor simply nodded. 'How do you think your daddy would feel about you riding on the back of that piece of scum's bike?'

Taylor didn't say anything. I wasn't sure if she just didn't have an answer to that question, or if she just didn't want to tell the sheriff the answer to that question.

'That's what I thought,' said the sheriff, after the silence. 'You know what, Fennel; maybe you should go see the wizard. Ask him for some brains.'

I stared at him dumbfounded. I had never seen a cop act like this towards anyone, especially not teenagers.

'Get in the car girls, I'll take you back into Neptune. Maybe your parents will vote for me in the next election,' he thought aloud wistfully.

He walked back towards the cop car and opened the back door. Taylor slumped into the seat and I followed her, looking up at the sheriff as he stood there. 

He pointed at me, when I had sat down, keeping the door open. 'Why do you look so familiar?' he asked.

I shrugged 'no idea.' 

'Hmm,' he said, before shrugging the whole thing off himself. 

When he was in the drivers seat, and we were going back into the main part of Neptune, I leaned against the back of the front seat, where the mesh stopped us from coming into contact with the people in the front.

'So, what's with the whole "wizard" thing?' I asked. 

He looked back at me in the rearview mirror, but didn't answer. 

'Because, just for the record; it's not very macho. Or intimidating. In fact, it's pretty lame. Do you use that line all the time, or is Taylor just special?'

I could hear Taylor, as she attempted to muffle her giggling with her hands. I saw the sheriff look at me in the rearview again, this time with a scowl. 

'You got a smart mouth, kid,' he said annoyed. 

I leaned back into the seat and smiled. 'Yeah.'

On the way back to the sheriff's department, Taylor and I talked quietly in the back seat, pretending that we were oblivious to the sheriff's glares through the rearview mirror at us. When he kept turning up the music, probably hoping that we would shut up, we just talked louder. 

When we pulled up in front of a large, important looking building, he snapped his gum and exited the car, opening the back door for us to get out. 'I'm sure you can find your way home from here,' he said.

I waved at him cheerily and blew him a kiss as he went back inside the building. He just scowled at me while Taylor laughed.

She pulled her phone from her pocket and began dialing a number, walking away from me as she spoke into it.

'Dad's going to be a bit late. He's on his way back from LA now,' she said, when she returned. Taking a seat on one of the steps. 

'Okay,' I said.

'Want to crash at mine?' she asked.

I nodded. 'Sure.' I asked to borrow Taylor's phone and proceeded to ring Pop and tell him what was going on.

Ten minutes later, we were still sitting out the front of the courthouse, on the steps when a man walked towards us, headed for the entrance. He stopped walking when he spotted Taylor and smiled at her.

'Taylor,' he suppressed a yawn.

'Hi, Mr Navarro.'

'For the hundredth time, just call me Eli,' he requested exasperated, but with a laugh.

'Sure…Eli.'

'So, how did you girls get back to Neptune?' he asked. 'I understand the boy's bikes are still out somewhere on the side of the PCH.'

'_Sheriff Lamb_ gave us a ride back in. It was torture,' said Taylor

Eli chuckled. 'I'll bet. So what are the charges?'

'Didn't they tell you on the phone?' asked Taylor.

Eli shook his head. He looked around my mother's age, with a bit of a beer belly, shaved head and was covered in tattoos. 'Nah, I just got the whole "Andreas and Jonas are in the lockup for another crime…again" from McCormack…their lawyer. I'm just here to do the usual Saturday night bail out thing,' he said casually, looking down at his watch. 'And I'd better get to it before Lamb decides to keep them here for 24 hours.'

Taylor waved to him as he walked into the courthouse.

'That was unusually not awkward,' I said, referring to the fact that she'd just had a completely normal, casual conversation with her boyfriend's dad.

Taylor shrugged. 'Nah, Mr Navarro's cool. He still one of us at heart, I guess. Mrs Navarro keeps him in line though.'

We sat on the steps for another ten minutes before Taylor registered that her father was walking towards us.

'Heads up,' she said. 'Hey dad!'

'Don't you dare "Hey dad!" me!' he said sternly. Taylor looked over at me worriedly. 'What exactly are you doing here, at the sheriff's department, at one in the morning, Taylor Jacqueline Fennel?'

'God, I hate it when you use the middle name,' said Taylor, trying to ease the tension.

'Don't try and make a joke out of this…' Mr Fennel's attention was interrupted when the heavy door of the courthouse opened up, and revealed Mr Navarro, Jonas and Andreas walking out. The boys following slowly behind their father.

'…You said that last time would be the _last time_, and yet, here I was sleeping when I get the call "the boys are in lockup. _Again_." The phone call almost scared your mother to death…' Eli stopped talking when he spotted us on the step.

'And suddenly it all becomes clear,' I heard Mr Fennel mutter. 'You're dating him again, Taylor? I thought I told you about this!' he said loudly to Taylor, not caring who heard.

'Well good evening to you too, Wally, old buddy,' said Mr Navarro sarcastically.

Mr Fennel considered him for a moment. 'Weevil,' he responded.

Taylor motioned between the two, noticing some hostility. 'Wait. You _know_ each other?'

'Yeah, you could say that. _Eli_ and I went to high school together,' Mr Fennel said bitterly.

'I'm gathering you guys didn't have slumber parties?' I joked.

'Nah, actually, on my first day at Neptune High, Eli here taped me butt naked to a flag pole,' said Mr Fennel resentfully. 

This confession lead all four of us teenagers to crack up with laughter. Mr Navarro smirked. 'I'd forgotten about that. Sorry, snitch.'

'I see the whole jail thing is still running in the family,' said Mr Fennel, pointing up at the courthouse.

'Three generations and still going strong,' said Mr Navarro sarcastically with a thumbs up.

'I'll bet,' said Mr Fennel. 'Look, I'll say this simply. I don't want my daughter to be involved with your boys, Eli.'

Taylor almost yelled with protest. 'Dad, you don't have any say in who I date. It's _my_ decision. I'm sixteen years old for god's sake!'

'Look, Mr Fennel, if you don't want Taylor and I dating, we can –' Jonas started to say, but he was interrupted by Taylor, who walked over to him.

'No, Jonas, you don't have to say anything. My _father_ does not choose who I date. I can go out with whoever I like!'

'Okay, okay everyone, just chill out,' said Andreas, holding his hands up. 'Look, it was my fault that we got arrested. Jonas had nothing to do with it. Jonas is a good person, Mr Fennel. He wouldn't do anything to hurt Taylor.'

'Thanks,' I heard Taylor whisper to him, as he gave her a wink.

There was silence for a moment, while we anticipated Mr Fennel's reply. He inhaled a large breath of air and said, 'Fine, I guess. But if I hear about anything…' he started to say.

Mr Navarro grabbed Jonas by the collar of his shirt. 'Trust me; you won't be hearing anything about these two for a while.'

'I disagree…leopards, spots, you know what they say, dad,' said Andreas cheekily. 

Mr Navarro suddenly gave him a stern look. 'Did I just hear what I think you just said, boy?' he asked menacingly.

Andreas put on a fake smile. 'Of course not, father dearest. I promise I'll be a good boy from now on.'

'That's more like it,' he said.

'Do you need me to call your parents, Lila?' asked Mr Fennel, as Eli, Andreas and Jonas started to move away.

'Oh no, I'm staying with my grandpa at the moment actually…Keith Mars.'

Now I'm not a very observant person, but even I, along with Taylor, Jonas and Andreas noticed the way that Mr Navarro suddenly turned back towards us, his eyes locking with Mr Fennel's for an intense second, as the colour seemed to drain a little from both their faces. Then, both pairs of eyes seemed to be trained back on me. 

'Um…actually, dad, I was wondering if Lila could stay at our place tonight?' Taylor asked hopefully. When her dad didn't reply, she waved her hand in front of his face. 'Yoo hoo, anyone home?' she sing-songed playfully. 

Mr Fennel came out of his trance. 'What? Oh, um…maybe another night, sweetie.'

'Damn!' she said, as she turned back to me with an apologetic look. I know that I was supposed to say something like, "It's okay, I'm feeling a bit tired anyway," but I was too mystified by the two men's actions to say anything to Taylor. I could still feel their eyes on me. 

The question was, why were they acting like this? They had frozen up and started the staring contest when I mentioned Keith Mars being my grandfather.

Had they known my mother? I was pretty sure that they had, judging by their responses. But, both were ruled out of the running for being a potential father. I was simply too white to be either one of their daughter.

Mr Navarro cleared his throat, as both of his sons eyed him weirdly. 'Well, I guess we'd better get going, we have to get up bright and early for church tomorrow,' he said, making both boys groan. 'Taylor, nice to see you again. Wally, old pal,' he fare welled. It might just have been my imagination that he followed this with a barely audible, 'Lila Mars.'

'I'll drop you home then,' said Mr Fennel to me.

'Thanks that would be appreciated.' I said, as Taylor looked at me weirdly.

As we walked up closer to Mr Fennel's expensive looking SUV, I noticed that a boy was sitting in the passenger's seat, with his feet on the dash. I recognized him from Taylor's picture. It was her brother.

'It's about time! How long did you guys want to take?' he asked animatedly.

'We got…momentarily interrupted. Sorry, Tim,' said Mr Fennel.

''S okay. But I almost fell asleep on the dash.'

On the ride back to my apartment, I could have sworn that Mr Fennel kept looking in the rearview mirror at me. Whenever I could feel eyes on me, I looked up at it, and he immediately looked away.

When we pulled up to the building, I got out of the car. 'Thanks, Mr Fennel. See you at school, Taylor. Nice to meet you, Tim.' 

Mr Fennel immediately moved from his seat. 'Actually, I'll walk you to your door; just say a quick hello to your grandpa.'

'Uh, sure,' I said, really unsure.

'Dad-?' Taylor asked confusedly.

'I'll be right back. Just stay in the car,' he replied, leaving Taylor really confused.

When we were out of earshot from the car, Mr Fennel spoke, clearing his throat awkwardly beforehand, 'So…you're Veronica's daughter, then?'

Jackpot. Someone who knew my mother, now just to get the details that I need out of Mr Fennel in the short space of time that I have.

I nodded with a smile. 'Yeah. Do you know her?' I asked, putting on a naïve voice.

'A long time ago,' he nodded slowly.

'So, were you two friends or…?'

'Some thing like that,' he said, as he knocked on my door.

Damnit! We were here already. I could hear pop inside, stumbling around the apartment, before peeking through the curtains. When he decided that it was safe, he opened the door. 

'Wal! To what do I owe the pleasure, at almost two in the morning?' he asked brightly, considering that he was still half asleep.

'Hi Mr Mars, just making sure Lila got home safe,' he replied.

'Call me Keith, Wal. We are adults now,' he chuckled as he tied up his robe from the front.

I faked a yawn, although I wasn't the least bit tired. 'I think I'll head off to bed. Thanks again, Mr Fennel.'

'Goodnight,' both men said, as I entered the house, not heading into my bedroom, but standing near it so that I could still hear what was going on outside.

'You never told me…' said Mr Fennel.

'About her? Veronica swore me to secrecy. I'm sorry, Wal, I wanted to…'

'Nah, forget it. I guess I didn't have the _right_ to know…'

'Look, I don't know what happened between the two of you, but you used to be such good friends, I'm sure-'

'Nah, seriously, Mr Mars, don't worry about it. Is she here?'

'No. I doubt she's coming back for good. But she'll probably visit for Lila's birthday.'

'Oh.'

'Look, I'm really sorry-'

'Don't apologize. It's not your fault. I guess…people just change.'

There was silence for a moment before pop spoke again.

'Well, I'm sorry that I can't tell you anything else.'

'Don't worry about it. Goodnight, Mr Mars.'

'Goodnight, Wallace.'

Wallace? Mr Fennel was Wallace? I should have figured out that Wal was short for Wallace before now, but I was too distracted. 

Even if Mr Fennel was Wallace, then what was the whole "Wallace and Veronica forever!" thing about. He couldn't be my father. There was no possible way; I was way too white to be his daughter.

'What are you doing?' Pop asked inquisitively, interupting my thoughts. 'Eavesdropping?' he asked with a smile.

I nodded guiltily. His smile dropped when he suddenly sniffed the air around him and I soon found him sniffing Andreas' jacket, which was still hanging loosely from my shoulders. I took it off.

'Is there something you want to tell me?' He asked suspiciously. He had smelt the cigarettes on it.

'No. Sorry. A friend just leant me his jacket.'

'Say no more,' said Pop. Sometimes, I loved my grandfather so much. He instinctively trusted people, including me and my mom, something that she and I had rarely been able to do, trusting other people, that is.

I took a deep breath, preparing myself for what I was about to say. He probably would have found out about it sooner or later anyway, I countered.

'Pop?'

'Yeah honey?'

'I was wondering if you could help me…'

He looked at me with a look of extreme curiosity. 'With…?' he prompted.

'I want to find out who my father is.'

**A/N So, what did you think? (Reviews are the answer, and my motivation to write more, so please, please, please, review. Tell me what you think. You will be rewarded with more of this mystery if you do!)**

**I know, another cliff hanger, and we haven't solved much since the last one, but, be patient, and all the answers will soon be revealed. But hey, on the upside, at least we know who some of the characters belong to, and Wallace and Weevil have come into the story!!**

**Thanks so much for reading! I'd love to hear about what you think will happen next in the story. (I don't laugh at anyone's guesses.)**

**Stay tuned…**

**Peace.**


	4. The Patron Saint Of Liars And Fakes

**Previously…**

'I was wondering if you could help me…'

He looked at me with a look of extreme curiosity. 'With…?' he prompted.

'I want to find out who my father is.'

* * *

My grandfather heaved a sigh as he looked at me tiredly. I walked over to the kitchen bench and sat down on one of the stools.

'Lila…are you…' he began to say, but I cut him off.

'If you're going to use the whole, "Lila, you're better off not knowing" line on me, it's not going to work. I've been hearing the same line my whole life!'

Pop paused for a second, obviously trying to think of the right words to say. 'I'm not going to stop you, Lila,' he said, which surprised me. Pop took a seat on the stool next to me, and turned to look at me, looking straight in my eyes. 'I agree that you have a right to know. I think you're old enough. But, what I'm trying to say is that I truthfully don't know who your father is.'

I grimaced. 'My mom never told you?' I asked.

He shook his head slowly. 'No, she never told me. I thought that she would when the time was right for her, but, now it's almost sixteen years later, and she still hasn't said a word.'

I could feel myself getting close to tears, but I refused to cry. Why would I be crying over this anyway? I shouldn't be. Maybe, I was just sad over the fact that my own mother had not trusted her own father with this secret.

'But…you must have some idea, right?' I asked hopefully.

'I have my suspicions, but that's all they are, Lila. I must stress that.'

'So you honestly have no idea who he is?'

'I honestly have no idea,' he replied.

'But you will help me find out, right?'

He paused for a moment. 'Yes,' he barely whispered. 'I will help you. I think that you have the right to know…but, if your mother finds out about this, she will kill both of us,' he said seriously.

'I know. And truthfully, I couldn't care less. I just want to know him…' I leant my head against pop's shoulder, as he stroked my hair soothingly.

'I know you do, sweetie. Now get some rest. We can talk about this in the morning.' I nodded my head against his shoulder, before pulling away and standing up.

'Goodnight Pop. And thank you.'

He smiled warmly, 'Hey, who's your grand daddy?'

I laughed at how cheesy he was. 'Okay, that was lame. Please don't do that again.'

'Sure,' he kissed my head before closing his bedroom door behind him.

That night, I didn't get much sleep. To be honest, I was too excited to sleep, knowing that when my grandfather woke up, I might finally get some answers.

I headed out into the kitchen / lounge early and turned on the TV, too tired of waiting in my room for any longer.

When I heard the click of Pop's bedroom door opening later on, I immediately turned off the TV, and sat on one of the stools in the kitchen.

'What are you doing up this early, Lila? You aren't usually an "early bird,"' he smiled sleepily, as he turned on the kettle. I grabbed my pen and notepad that I had organized.

'So, who did my mom hang out with at school?' I asked seriously.

Pop sighed. 'Get any sleep last night, kiddo?'

'Not a lot, so can you please just answer the question?'

As the kettle started to make a high pitched whistling sound, he concentrated on making his coffee, 'Are we talking about pre-Lilly or post-Lilly?' he asked.

Ah yes, Lilly Kane. My mother's dead best friend. I vaguely recalled the day when I found out all about the murder of Lilly Kane, and my mother's involvement with the case.

I was at school one day, in legal studies, when the teacher instructed us to do a case study of a famous murder trial.

I had gone into the library at lunch to surf the Internet, looking for an appropriate case. I typed "famous murder" into google search, and about the first three pages were articles and websites dedicated to the murder trial of Lilly Kane.

So I was intrigued, until I saw two _very_ familiar names within the content. Keith and Veronica Mars. I checked several various sites to make sure that I wasn't just hallucinating, but they all said the same thing.

That night, when I had gotten home from school, I marched straight up to my mother and demanded that she tell me about Lilly Kane.

Her reaction was one of shock. 'How do you know about Lilly?' she asked, as she nervously clutched her small, star shaped necklace that she wore all the time.

I had scoffed. 'It's one of the most famous and well publicized murders in recent times.' Not that Lilly's murder was recent. Well, not for me anyway. 'How did you think that I could not find out about this?'

Mom had told me everything; about her friendship with Lilly, the way that Lilly was found, the confessed killer, Abel Koontz, my family's fallen social status, and my mom and grandfather's continuing investigations into her murder.

She told me about how Lilly's own family had covered the murder up, fearing that Lilly's brother had killed her, when in eventuality, it was Lilly's boyfriend's father who had killed her. They had been having an affair, the famous actor, Aaron Echolls and my mom's best friend, Lilly Kane.

When my mother had started to cry at the end of her tale, I didn't press her any longer; I just gave her a hug and comforted her.

But I still couldn't understand how she had not told me about this, how I had to find it out for myself. As much as I loved my mom, (and I really did. She was my best friend at times,) I couldn't understand how she just didn't allow members of her own family into her circle of protectiveness. An example of this, was not telling me, or my grandpa who my real father was. But we _were_ going to figure it out.

'Pre and post Lilly,' I said to my grandfather, in answer to his question.

He was stirring the sugar into his coffee, before he took a sip. 'Well, when Lilly was alive, those two were inseparable… those two along with Logan and Duncan…' he said, with a slight air of reminiscence about him.

'Logan and Duncan?' I prompted, as I wrote both first names down on the paper, leaving lines in-between for more details.

'Logan Echolls, was Lilly's boyfriend at the time. Then, of course…'

'She was having an affair with his father?' I asked. I knew this story.

'You got it, kid,' he said.

'And what about Duncan? Who was he?' I asked.

'Duncan Kane. Does that name ring any bells?' he asked.

Of course it did, everyone knew the Kane family, because of Lilly's murder. Other than that, anyone in Neptune knew who the Kane's were because of Kane Software, the famous company that had made a lot of people a lot of money in this town.

'Lilly's brother?' I asked. Pop nodded. 'Logan's best friend, your mom's first "boyfriend."' He said, using air quotes.

My jaw dropped. 'Really?' I asked, as I scrawled down that information furiously onto the pad.

'Yeah, for a while,' Pop said.

'And what about after Lilly?' I asked.

Pop considered for a moment. 'Well…after Lilly, your mom didn't have friends for a bit…until Wallace came along,' he added brightly. He obviously was fond of Wallace.

I wrote down some notes on Wallace as pop continued his description.

'I think your mom just kept Wallace around to be her own personal sidekick most of the time,' he chuckled. 'Yeah, whenever there was a mystery to be solved, Veronica was on the case, using Wallace's help wherever she could.'

'Then, at high school, she was friends with Meg for a bit, Meg Manning. She died during senior year, though.'

I looked up at my grandpa. 'That's really sad. How did she die?' I asked.

'Neptune High bus crash in 2005,' Pop recalled sadly as he looked down into his cup at his remaining coffee.

'Oh,' I said.

I knew about the bus crash. I had found out about it a little while after I had found out about the whole Lilly Kane thing. Mom had said that Pop had written a book about Lilly's murder, if I ever wanted to read it.

So, out of curiosity, I went down to the local bookstore and found that Keith Mars had a small amount of shelf space dedicated to his writings. Using my pocket money, I brought the entire collection, reading all of his stories within the next few months. One of those books was the one on Lilly's murder, another was written entirely about the Neptune High bus crash situation, and how to my astonishment, _my own mother_ had figured out how it had happened.

'Then there was Mac,' he said with a smile. 'Cindy Mackenzie. She was really good with computers…give her enough time, and she could hack into any account,' he said. I grinned at him. 'I think she went over to Japan to work for some technology company a few years ago.'

'Jackie Cook, I think she was a friend of your mothers… Eli Navarro, now there's one for you. He was the leader of the local motorcycle gang…' Pop said, trailing off in amusement. I cut him off.

'Let me guess, the PCHers?'

'Yeah, that's them. A bunch of troublemakers, I busted him a whole load of times when I was sheriff.'

I chuckled. It was ironic that Andreas' father had once been the leader of the same club that his son now ran.

'So mom was friends with him?' I asked.

Pop nodded. 'I'm pretty sure. Yeah, your mom even convinced me to hire him once…as a receptionist.'

I scoffed. 'Somehow, he doesn't seem like "receptionist" material.'

Pop did a double take. 'You know Eli?' he asked.

'Oh yeah, I met him…in passing, you know,' I said. I really didn't want Pop to know that we were at the courthouse last night and that two potential new friends got arrested.

'Anyway, and then in college, there was Parker Lee,' Pop said. 'She was a nice girl… a little peppy, but nice.'

'Is that it?' I asked, as I finished writing.

'Yeah, I think that's about it,' Pop said. 'So is interrogation over?' he asked playfully.

'Not quite yet,' I said, as I took a seat on the couch. 'What about mom's boyfriends? I want to know all of their names. I mean, there's gotta be more than just Duncan Kane, right?'

Pop nodded his head slowly. 'Okay, this might take a while,' he said jokingly. 'Troy Vandegraff, who was a bad egg, trust me. But she only dated him for a little while,' he paused, as I wrote this down. 'Leo D'Amato. He's still a deputy at the Sheriff's department,' Pop said fondly.

Excellent, someone still in Neptune.

'Stosh…Piznarski,' he said. I stopped writing immediately.

'Piz? Piz as in like, the radio DJ?' I asked. Pop nodded with a grin. Stosh "Piz" Piznarski was only like the coolest guy on radio. He DJ'd on my favourite radio station and seemed like the coolest, funniest guy. 'My _mother_ dated Piz?' I asked astonished.

'The very same one, in college,' Pop said. 'Duncan Kane's already on your list right?' he asked. I nodded in reply.

He sat for a moment, trying to remember, before he suddenly sat up straight, 'and then there was your mother's own personal drama in Logan Echolls,' he said.

'Wait, Logan Echolls, like Lilly's boyfriend?'

'Yeah. Your mother and Logan were either off or on. Always, fighting about something…I would hear her moping around for days after they broke up…'

I wrote all of the new information down. 'Wait; there was someone else, who she hung out with a bit in college. Dick Casablancas. But I don't think that they ever dated. In fact, I'm sure of it. I'm not sure if it will help, but you should write his name down somewhere.'

'Okay,' I said. When I had finished I looked up at him expectantly.

'Sorry, but my information stock has been temporarily drained. That's everyone that I know of,' he said, putting his hands up in surrender.

'Come on, pa. You must know _something_ else?' He shook his head.

'You said that you had suspicions about who my father was…so spill,' I said.

Pop leaned forward a little bit on the couch. 'Lila, I really don't know…' he started.

'Okay, so tell me, out of all those guys that you just told me about, who you think would be the number one suspect of my paternity?'

He shook his head, 'Lila, I really don't know…It might not even be _any_ of those men. It could be someone who I didn't know, or know about.'

'Please, Pop,' I pleaded, looking at him with a pout and using my deep blue eyes to give him a puppy dog stare. 'Out of the men that you mentioned, who would be the most obvious suspect?'

He ran a hand through what little hair he had left. 'If I had to say, and I could be way off with this, Lila-'

'So you keep saying,' I said boredly.

'If I had to say one person, it would probably be Logan Echolls,' he said truthfully.

I nodded slowly. 'Is there any reason…?'

'No. I have no reason behind my suspicion, other than the fact that your mother was so in love with him, even though she would never admit it, I knew. But that's it. That's my whole reasoning, which isn't much at all,' he looked at me sadly, and rubbed my shoulder. 'Either him or Duncan Kane.'

'Duncan…?' I asked.

'Yeah, your mother dated him for a while during senior year, before he ran away. Nobody knows where he is, except for your mom; she has always known where he was. She helped him escape.'

'What. Escape?'

Pop sighed, 'It's a long story… see, Duncan was dating Meg Manning while he and Veronica were broken up, but he and Meg ended things before the bus crashed. Meg was the only survivor from the crash. But she was in a coma. She was also pregnant with Duncan's child.'

I audibly gasped, 'what?'

'When Meg died, the baby survived. He stole the baby from the hospital one night and went on the run. Your mother helped him escape,' he paused for a minute, 'but this information stays between you and me. The feds are probably still looking for Duncan, and trying to tie your mom to the kidnapping.'

'My mom's a criminal?' I asked, half impressed. Pop shook his head at me and I changed the subject. 'So Logan Echolls and Duncan Kane, are you sure that one of those men is my dad?'

Pop shook his head again, 'I have no idea. From all the guys that your mom dated, those two seemed like the most obvious choices, though.'

'So, it take it Duncan doesn't live in Neptune anymore?'

'No. No one knows where he is.'

'What about Logan?'

Pop gave me a small smile and a nod, 'Yeah. I see him around some mornings, surfing down on the beach. But I don't think that you should confront Logan yet. If I were you, I'd wait until your mom comes back, and try asking her again.'

'Why?'

'Well, if Logan isn't your father, it could get awkward. Let's look further into it, before we point the finger,' said Pop.

'I think I'll go back to sleep now.' Lie; there was no way that I could sleep now, not with all the information that I had just gathered.

'That's probably a good idea,' said Pop, as I went into my room and closed the door behind me.

I started to pace in my room. It was just what I did when I had some thinking to do. My eyes found an old laptop on the desk.

I wondered if it still worked, as I started to boot it up. To my surprise, it did.

The only icon on the desktop was a file that read "Lilly Kane Murder Investigation," intrigued; I clicked into it.

Why did mom still have this file? Why hadn't she deleted it?

I clicked onto the thumbnail that read, "suspects," there was no file for the actual killer, Aaron Echolls (my possible grandfather,) but there were files on both men that Pop had mentioned, Logan Echolls and Duncan Kane. I clicked onto Duncan's file, bypassing the actual information. I didn't need to know it. I just looked at the photo that was attached.

Yeah, I figured this guy could be my dad, I guessed. I mean, I did have brown hair and blue eyes, just like him, but I couldn't see any other resemblances besides that.

I clicked into Logan Echolls file and studied his picture. Like Duncan, he had brown hair too. But a lot of people had brown hair, I told myself. Logan had brown eyes though; mine were deep blue. Still, that didn't mean that Logan wasn't my father, but even my mother didn't have as blue eyes as I did. Maybe I had inherited them from one of my grandparents.

I had too many questions that needed answers, and I couldn't wait until my mother came back to town (if she even would return.)

I made a decision. I made a plan; track Logan Echolls down and demand answers.

**A/N So, I know, it's a short and rushed one, but it's kind of vital. **

**Drop me a line regarding your thoughts. It gives me the biggest buzz to see that I've got new reviews! I know I say this all the time, but the only reason writers write these stories, is for the feedback! So, do you think Keith is right about Logan and Duncan? I want to know your opinion on the story, or my writing style. Tell me if there's things I need to improve on. REVIEW!**

**Oh, and I don't usually update this quick. This chapter was a fluke. I know it didn't contain much, but the next chapter does!! Review if you'd like to see it! (It contains Logan. Hint, hint.)  
**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Happy Easter!**

**Peace.**


	5. Don't You Know Who I Think I Am?

Logan Echolls lived in a big house right on the beach.

Now, I knew that both Duncan and Logan were quite wealthy, but I couldn't help thinking that if I was one of their daughter's, that I could be in for quite an inheritance payout, one that would pay for college entirely. Not that I hadn't grown up well, I had. I just hadn't lived in a mansion, or gotten everything I'd desired, or driven around in a Mercedes.

I was getting more and more nervous, as I looked up at the house, wondering if this was the right thing to do, wondering what Logan would be like, if he would know who I was.

I had practiced what I was going to say to him over and over, as I walked over here. I would start off with questions about my mother, watching carefully for the reaction that I would get from him. And from there, the conversation would (hopefully) just flow.

I walked bravely up to the house and rang the doorbell, my heart beating furiously in my chest. When the door opened, I thought that I was going to faint. But then I saw someone that I recognized.

Alex was standing at the door, wearing board shorts and a t-shirt, drying off his hair with a towel.

'Lila?' he asked. He looked surprised to see me, but he had a grin on his face (or was that a smirk?)

'Alex. What are _you_ doing here?' I asked.

He laughed. 'Um, I _live_ here. What are you doing here?'

I didn't have an answer to his question. I was not, in any way, expecting this. Did I get the wrong address, or was Alex Logan's son? That seemed like the most logical solution at the moment.

'Um…' I was saved when someone stuck his head through the doorway and grinned at me.

'Hey, Lila!' Richie said enthusiastically. I noticed that his hair was also wet, and he too was wearing board shorts, flip flops, but was sans a t-shirt. 'Come on in, don't mind Alex, he totally wiped out this morning. I think he might of hit his head,' he said playfully, as he ruffled Alex's hair.

'Whatever, dude,' Alex said, as he shook Richie off and opened the door wider to let me in.

'So, did you get home okay after the party? I lost track of you after the cops showed up. They didn't get you, did they?' Richie asked. I was busy looking around at the inside of this amazing house to even answer his question, so he nudged me lightly.

'Um, yeah actually, they got us, but I didn't get into any trouble. The sheriff just drove us back to Neptune. They arrested Jonas and Andreas though…'

I heard Alex groan as he heard Jonas and Andreas' names. I noticed that we were now in the kitchen. This house was nice, to say the least.

'You're friends with the Navarro's?' he asked.

I nodded slightly, 'kind of…not really though. I'm friends with Taylor, she's friends with them.'

As Alex took a seat on one of the comfy looking kitchen stools, I sat down on the one closest to him. Richie went straight for the fridge, getting out a carton of orange juice, and pouring himself a glass.

'Want a drink?' he asked, looking at Alex and me.

'Sure,' I replied. Alex just rolled his eyes at him.

'Man, you really feel welcome in this place, don't you?'

'Everyone knows we're part of the family, bro. So, you'd better not be dating my sister!' Richie said, jokingly, but I could tell that a part of him was serious.

'For the five-hundredth time, Richie, I'm not dating Cass!' Alex exclaimed.

Richie held out his hands in surrender, 'fine, sorry man. But you two looked pretty cozy on the beach last night,' he leaned up against the bench so that he was facing the two of us.

'Cass was just upset. That's all. Come on, man, she's like a sister to me.'

Richie nodded. 'So, tell me then, have you ever thought of her naked?'

'Dude!' Alex yelled. 'She's _your_ sister! End of discussion,' he said, as he turned his head away from us. Richie started laughing.

'I'm just playing, man,' he said, still laughing. Alex just shook his head.

He passed me my drink and I took a sip. 'This is good,' I commented.

'Yeah, Alex's dad always has the best food,' Richie said.

'So...did you guys get away from the party okay?' I asked, hoping to avoid the question that was bound to be asked by one of the boys, "what are you doing here?"

I didn't want to answer that question. When I came over here, I hadn't expected Logan to have kids; yet alone, someone that I knew. This certainly, hadn't been in my plan.

'Yeah,' said Richie, 'I was fine.'

'We didn't even know that the cops were there, until we went back later on, and no one was around, and all the kegs were gone,' Alex said. I presumed that when he said 'we' that he meant himself and Cassie.

'Why were the kegs gone?' I asked curiously.

Alex and Richie looked at each other, before Richie spoke. 'It's a sheriff's department thing. They don't usually bust anyone for underage drinking, they just take the kegs.'

'Oh, right,' I said.

My attention was averted from the conversation as someone made their way through the kitchen. Yep, this was Logan Echolls, without a doubt. He looked the same as his picture, apart from the obvious signs of aging (a few wrinkles here and there.)

He stopped walking for a second and took in the fact that Richie wasn't wearing a shirt, and that both boys had wet hair. He pointed between them, 'did you two have a shower together, or…?' he asked with a smirk.

'Ha, ha, very funny, dad,' said Alex sarcastically. (Yep, he was Logan Echoll's son. My potential half-brother.) Logan looked pleased with himself at his joke. 'We went for a surf.' Alex explained.

'You could have told me, I would have come with,' said Logan, slightly disappointed. Richie scoffed.

'And have an old man like you, cramping our style?' Richie asked, 'Doubt it,' he smirked.

'Listen here, Casablancas, I'll have you know that I was quite the chick magnet…' he said, pretending to be serious.

'The key word there being "was,"' said Alex.

Logan suddenly looked at me, as if only just noticing that I was there.

'Hi,' I said timidly.

Logan pointed at me, 'wow, Alex, I'm impressed. I didn't know you could get a girl like this,' he joked. 'I know that she can't be Richie's, cos he couldn't get any girl, full stop.'

I didn't even want to touch that one. Logan obviously hadn't recognized me as his daughter. Or as Alex's sister. If he was my dad, mom must not have told him about me, or maybe he just hadn't realized that I was Veronica Mars' daughter yet.

'Very funny, Loags. I'll fight you, right now,' Richie joked, with his fists bared.

'Dad, this is Lila. Lila, my dad,' Alex introduced. Logan held out his hand and I shook it.

'Nice to meet you, Lila,' Logan said seriously, with a small smile. 'Likewise,' I replied.

He hadn't had a reaction to my name, I noticed.

'So is big Dick coming around for lunch?' Logan asked Richie, who shrugged.

'No idea. I'll ask him, if you want,' he said.

'Are you staying for lunch, Lila? We're having a barbeque,' Logan said. I squirmed.

'Of course she is!' said Richie, answering for me. 'Lila just loves barbeques!'

I looked at Richie dumbfounded. What was his deal? He just smiled and laughed at me.

'Sure, I guess I could stay,' I said.

'Great!' Logan rubbed his hands together. 'I'll fire it up, then,' he walked out of the kitchen, into the backyard.

'I guess I'll go and see whether my dad is hungry, then,' said Richie sheepishly.

'Your dad's always hungry,' said Alex.

Richie chuckled, 'well, that's true. Want to come for a walk?' he asked me.

'Sure,' I replied, as I got off the stool and followed Richie out of the kitchen, into the hall and out the front door.

'So, I thought you said that you didn't like Alex,' Richie said, when we were out the front of the house, and walking towards the road.

'I don't,' I replied immediately. Especially now that I know that he could be my brother.

'Uh huh, sure,' Richie said, as if he didn't believe me.

'I don't!' I insisted.

'Okay, okay, chill out, I was just playing.'

When Richie turned and walked straight up to the next-door neighbour's front path, I stopped. 'Where are you going?'

He turned back to me, 'To ask my dad if he wants to go to lunch…what did you think?'

'Oh. This is your house?' I asked, pointing at the mansion, which looked a lot like Alex's house from the front.

Richie smiled and nodded, as he opened the front door, leaving it open for me. His house was set out exactly the same as Alex's on the inside, except that the décor was a little different.

'Home sweet home,' he said. 'So, do you want to look around, or just go straight up to my room to check out my bedroom ceiling?' he asked.

I punched him on the shoulder. 'Richie, how old are you?'

'Nineteen,' he answered.

'Well I'm fifteen. So I think that you can stop with all the "fooling around" jokes right now.'

'Fine,' he huffed. 'But it's just so funny watching you blush.'

'I do not blush!' I said. Richie just looked at me pointedly. 'Dad!' he yelled.

No one answered, so Richie yelled again for his father. This time, when his father didn't answer, a female voice rang out from up the stairs, 'Shut up, Richie! I'm trying to have a conversation here!'

Richie rolled his eyes at me. I was guessing that the voice belonged to Cassie.

'Come on, man, what did I say about annoying your little sister?' said a man as he walked down the stairs. I was pretty sure that he was Richie's dad, just looking at the resemblance. Richie's dad just looked like an older version of Richie.

'Fine, I'll stop,' he said.

'So, you yelled for me… you couldn't just get off your lazy ass and look for me?' his dad asked.

'No, where's the fun of pissing of Cass in that?' Richie asked. His father grinned.

'Well that's true. But don't tell her I said that,' he said.

'What, tell daddy's little angel that daddy doesn't love her? You and I both know that she would never believe that. Come on, she's got you wrapped around her little finger. Oh, dad, this is Lila, by the way,' Richie said.

His dad made his way down the stairs, so that he was on the same level as us. 'Hey, I'm Dick. But that will have to be Mr C or Big Dick to you,' he said with a chuckle.

'Um…okay,' I said. I really didn't want to call him Big Dick. It sounded too rude, especially for someone that I had just met.

Richie rolled his eyes, 'Why do you insist on being called that? It's not even cool.'

'Maybe not to you… but just think, in a few years time, you'll be called Big Dick, and you'll love it.'

Richie chuckled, 'I'm _never_ having anyone call me anything other than Richie.' Dick shrugged.

'What about Richard?' asked Cassie, as she walked down the stairs. Suddenly, she spotted me. 'Oh. You're Taylor's friend, aren't you? What are you doing here?'

'Actually, _Cassidy_, we were just over at Alex's…' Richie started to say, but Cassie butted in, 'Why doesn't that surprise me?'

Richie ignored her, 'Logan's cooking a barbeque,' he said, more to his father than his sister.

'Sweet,' exclaimed Mr C. 'Coming, Cass?'

'Just a minute, I'll grab a jacket,' she said, as she disappeared back up the stairs.

'But it's not even cold outside!' Richie said to her turned back.

'Oh, we're going to be here for a while!' said Dick jokingly.

'Yeah, it's more like, "I'm going to reapply my make-up, do my hair and change my outfit before Alex sees me," said Richie. His dad looked at him sternly.

'Give her a break, Richie.'

'Whatever. We're going back,' he said.

We were halfway to the door when Dick said, 'Hey, are you thinking about putting a shirt on before you leave?'

'Oh, yeah. I'll only be a minute,' Richie said to me, with a wink.

Dick and I stood in an uncomfortable silence before he cleared his throat and said, 'So, do you go to Neptune High?'

I nodded. 'Yeah, I started last week.'

'Oh, so you're new?'

'Yep.'

'And how do you know Richie?'

'Um…we met last night, at the party.'

'Right, so you went to the party?' I nodded. 'Yeah, how was that? It didn't get too out of hand, did it?'

'No, not really. The cops broke it up before anything happened,' I said, not including the part about some guy getting bashed up by the PCHers.

Mr C smiled at me, 'good.'

'You're not boring her with the story about that frat reunion, are you?' Cassie asked as she made her way down the stairs.

'No! What are you talking about? I never talk about the frat reunion,' said Dick unconvincingly.

'Sure you don't,' said Cassie, as she rolled her eyes. 'I didn't know you were friends with _Richard_,' she said to me.

'We're not… really,' I said. I was surprised that Cassie was acting so nicely towards me. She was usually quite the bitch towards Taylor and I. Perhaps it was because her dad was around.

'Let's head over to the Echolls,' she said. I got the biggest shock when she actually linked her arm with my own.

'Okay, sure,' I replied, as she led me towards the door, wondering for a second if I should wait for Richie. I was sure that as soon as Cassie closed the front door, that she would tell me that I wasn't welcome, or something just as harsh as that. To my surprise though, she didn't say anything mean or cruel.

'I'm sorry for being so mean to you this week, I've had a really bad week,' she said.

'Oh, no, it's okay,' I said.

'No, not really. I just…I don't want you to think that I'm a total bitch just because of your first impressions of me.'

I didn't know quite what to say.

'I should have been nicer to you, especially that first day in Newspaper. I was… I was just having a really bad day.'

'Oh, no. Don't worry about it,' I said. She smiled at me.

'So what do you think of Neptune? Did I hear that you were from Boston?'

I didn't know how she knew that I was from Boston; but it kind of surprised me that she did. 'Yeah, Neptune's okay, I guess,' I said.

Cassie opened the Echolls front door. 'Honey, I'm home!' she yelled, as if she owned the place.

The Casablancas' and the Echolls' seemed really close. I wondered how they knew each other. Perhaps they were just really good friends and neighbours.

Cassie led me into the kitchen, where Logan was now cutting up a salad, from the looks of it.

'Hey, Cass. What's going on?' he asked casually.

Cassie let go of my arm and took a seat on the bench, next to Logan. 'Well, Logan, let me tell you…' she began, but he cut her off.

'Let me guess, your friend Bridget, like totally snobbed you off, and you're having, like the worst hair day in the world, and it's like a total disaster?' Logan asked, putting on a Valley High voice.

Cassie shoved him. 'Hey, knife in hand,' he warned, holding it up to show her.

'You are a dork,' she stated, as she jumped off the bench. 'We're going to watch TV.'

'Lunch is in half an hour!' Logan said as we walked down one of the halls.

Cassie walked into the lounge room and I followed slowly. It was huge! With a gigantic TV that took up most of the wall and a huge, comfy couch, which Cassie jumped onto, getting settled in and turning the TV on with the remote.

'Nice, huh?' she said, motioning to the TV.

'I've never seen a bigger TV,' I replied, stunned, as I took a seat next to her, but still remained a distance away.

'Yeah, my Aunt Mac is like the head of this technology company. We get all the newest gadgets before everyone else. Well, the Echolls, and us,' she grinned.

'It must be good to be rich,' I stated, knowing that I probably should have been brought up like this, was I a Kane or an Echolls.

'It has its perks,' said Cassie. 'But Mac is an old friend of my dad's…and Logan's. They run this website together. Business partners or something….'

'Cool.'

We sat watching the TV for about ten minutes before I asked whether I could use the bathroom.

When I was finished, I set out back down the hall, but I heard Richie's voice in the kitchen. I was about to enter it when I realized that it wasn't Richie having a conversation; but Logan and Richie's dad, Dick.

I was about to go back to the lounge with Cassie, until I caught some of their discussion.

'That girl, does she remind you of anyone?' Logan asked.

Were they referring to me as 'that girl?' I was intrigued. It wasn't my fault that I continued to eavesdrop.

'Yeah,' said Dick. 'Ronnie. I picked it straight off. Looks just like her, except taller and with brown hair, and not as pesky or annoying.'

'I thought she looked familiar! I just couldn't pick it,' said Logan.

Dick huffed, as if he didn't believe him, 'bull, you didn't pick it! Like _you_ could ever forget Veronica Mars!'

Did I just hear what I thought I heard?

'Hey, what are you doing out here?' Alex asked, making me jump, because I had no idea that he was behind me.

'I…I…got lost. Big house,' I said, making something up on the spot.

He grinned, 'yeah, I guess. Come on outside, it's boring in here.'

'Um, sure,' I said, as we walked through the kitchen. I could distinctly feel Logan and Dick's eyes on me this time; like they were studying me for traces of my mother of something. Not that they even knew that I was Veronica Mars' daughter yet. Perhaps they just thought that I looked like her?

I had no idea what they knew, or didn't know. Now I was confused. Where to go from here? Lunch, that's where. Get through lunch and go home, and continue your life, Lila.

Pop was right; this whole saga was way too complex for even me to figure out. If I wanted solid, factual answers, I was going to have to wait for my mother.

'Hey, there you are!' said Richie, as he maneuvered the grill. 'I was worried that we had scared you off or something.'

'No, no, I was just watching TV with Cassie,' I said.

'Those burgers almost ready yet, boy?' asked Dick as he came into the backyard, putting a bowl of salad down on the table.

'Almost…grilled…to…perfection!' said Richie.

'Does someone want to go and get Cass, then?' Logan asked.

'I'll go,' I said quietly, as I started to walk away.

'I'll make sure you don't get lost…big house,' Alex muttered, as he caught up with me and smiled.

'Uh, thanks,' I said. 'Your house is really nice.'

He smiled. 'Yeah, I guess.'

There was silence as we walked down the hall. 'So, is your mom eating lunch with us or…?' I asked.

Alex squirmed. 'Er…no. My mom died when I was a baby,' he said.

'Oh. Sorry.'

'Nah, don't worry about it, you didn't know,' he smiled sadly at me.

'Oh my god! There you are! I was just about to come looking for you,' Cassie said as she got up from the couch.

'Well, dad says that lunch is ready,' said Alex.

'Great! I'm starved,' said Cassie, as she walked out ahead of us.

When we got back out to the table; everyone was filling their plates and beginning to eat. I took a seat at the table next to Cassie.

'So, Lila, are you coming to Alex's "birthday party of the decade?"' Logan asked.

'I thought I told you that it was "birthday party of the century,"' Alex said jokingly. Cassie laughed.

'Oh, sorry, birthday party of the century?' Logan corrected himself.

'Um…' I started.

'You should totally come!' said Cassie.

'Yeah, _totally_,' said Richie, mimicking Cassie's voice.

'Shut up, _Richard_,' Cassie said, as she slapped him lightly on the arm.

'Come on, kids, play nice,' said Dick.

'Um…I guess…when is it?' I asked.

'December ninth, but his birthday is really on the eighth,' said Dick.

That was in a fortnight's time, around the week of my own birthday, actually.

Almost everyone at the table said at once, 'It's the seventh!'

'Oops, sorry,' said Dick. 'I was close, though.'

Oh my god. Did they just say the seventh? Because December 7th was my birthday.

'Did you say December seventh?' I asked.

'Yeah, why?' Alex asked, at the weird look on my face.

'Nothing…it's just my birthday is the seventh too,' I said.

'Wow! Well that's a weird coincidence,' said Dick. Now, it could have been my imagination, but I noticed that he directed this comment mainly to Logan.

'That is odd,' Logan said. 'So, how old are you turning?'

'Sixteen.'

'Same as me!' said Alex.

'So, do you have any plans?' Cassie asked.

'No, not really. I'll probably just end up watching baseball with my grandpa and eating one of my mother's horrible creations that she calls a "cake." Same as every year,' I said.

'That's cute that you have a tradition,' said Cassie.

'I guess. I've never really thought of it that way; it's just what we do.'

'And what about your dad?' Dick asked, as he took a bite of his burger.

I squirmed a little bit. 'Oh, I don't really have one. Well, I do. I just don't know him,' I said, looking at Logan when I said this, watching for any kind of reaction. Unfortunately, he seemed quite interested in his food, and didn't make eye contact with me.

'Oh,' said a few people at the table; including Cassie and Alex.

When lunch was over, I told everyone that it was probably time for me to go home. They all said goodbye to me, and I couldn't help but think that the Casablancas' and the Echolls' were a weird soft of 'family,' but a really good one, too.

I walked home quickly, knowing that Pop probably had a million questions about my whereabouts waiting for me when I got back.

I also had an investigation to continue; it looked as if Logan was a no-go zone until my mother came back. There was no way that I could ask him questions, not when I knew his son. My possible half brother.

What had happened at lunch had also given me another question to ask my mom. Alex had said that his birthday was on the 7th of December, just like mine.

Was Alex not only my half-brother, but also my full brother? Were we twins, twins that had been separated at birth, and one given to each parent?

If we were, then both my mother and Logan had something serious to answer to; it was one thing to keep me from seeing or knowing my father; but it was another entirely to keep my brother – my _twin_ brother and I apart.

'Hey, honey, where have you been?' asked Pop from the couch as I entered the apartment. His voice broke me from my thoughts.

'What? Um…just walking around,' I said.

He looked at me, with a look that read, "I don't believe you."

'Are you sure?' He asked. I sighed and took a seat on the sofa next to him.

'No. I went over to see Logan Echolls.'

'Oh, sweetie,' he started to say.

'I just had lunch there. I know his son.'

'Really?' I nodded. 'So, what happened?' he prompted.

'Nothing. Really, nothing,' I said. Except for the fact that I now know that I have a twin brother.

For no reason at all; I started to cry. I could feel the tears start cascading down my cheeks.

Pop pulled me closer, in a sort of one-armed hug. 'We'll figure this thing out, okay?' he said.

I nodded against his shoulder and wiped my eyes. 'I don't even know why I'm crying…it's pathetic really,' I said.

'No, it's not.'

I sniffed and hugged him back. At least I still had Pop; the one person that I could count on, no matter what.

**A/N Thanks for reading!**

**So, what did you think? And what do you think will happen next? Any comments or questions? You know what to do, if you want the rest of the story! Reviews are my fuel. (Hint, hint) :p**

**Okay, I know that so far, I've painted Veronica out as a bit of a witch; but she really isn't. I heart Veronica. She had her reasons for everything that she's done, I swear. In a couple of chapter's time, she will return and I've planned for the PoV to change. Just because Lila can't really be telling Veronica's story. **

**I send my love to everyone who has reviewed so far. This story really is for you guys. **


	6. The Music Or The Misery

It was Monday morning. Almost first period, Monday morning.

I closed my locker and held my books into my chest. I was about to turn around before somebody covered my eyes and said 'guess who?'

My reaction was to drop my books with the shock. I was not expecting contact with anyone. My eyes were uncovered as I gradually saw JD lean down and pick them up.

'Wow, I didn't know you were _that_ surprised to see me,' he joked with a grin, as he handed me back my books. 'Oops,' he said, as he registered that he had forgotten one.

My notepad lay open on the floor. JD bent over to retrieve it; but stopped suddenly. He grabbed the pad and studied it.

'Thanks,' I said, as I took it from his grasp.

'Wait a tic,' he said, as he grabbed for it, but missed. 'Wait, can I have a look at that for a second?'

'No.' I replied immediately and kept walking. He caught up and walked next to me.

'What is that? Why the list of names?'

'What? It's nothing…just some work stuff for my Grandad.'

'Why is my dad's name on the list?' JD asked. I turned and looked at him suddenly.

'What?'

'I thought I saw my dad's name on your list…maybe I was wrong…'

'Wh-?'

'Let me look at it,' JD said, as he got a hold of the pad. I let him take it from my hands.

He studied the page. 'Look, right here,' he said, as he showed me, pointing to a name and some notes. '"Leo D'Amato, deputy sheriff." That's my dad. What is this list of?'

'Your dad is Leo D'Amato?'

'Yeah. What did you think?'

'I don't know. Look, it doesn't matter,' I said, as I took the pad from him and threw it in the nearest trashcan. 'Mystery solved.' I muttered.

'And what mystery would that be?' JD asked. Looks like I said that a little loud.

'The mystery that if I don't get going to Physics now; I'm going to be late. See you,' I said, as I walked down the hall, away from him.

I looked back at him, when I was about halfway to my class. He was still standing in the same place; looking at the floor, with a confused expression on his face. Sure, I could have told him the truth; that it was a list of my mother's ex boyfriends, but that would have led to another question.

Was I really ready to let someone I'd know for an entire week in on a family secret? No. Not today.

* * *

'Hey girl, what you doing?' asked Andreas as he came and sat next to me at lunch. Taylor, Jonas and I were already at the table.

I opened up my messenger bag and handed his jacket back to him. 'Thanks…for Saturday night,' I said.

'Are you kidding? Saturday night was a…'

'A complete and utter debacle?' Taylor supplied.

'Yeah, whatever that means,' said Andreas. 'But I can make it up to you…we can go cruising this weekend, if you want to. As long as I can get my bike out of impoundment.'

I shuffled awkwardly, 'I think I'll pass on that one.'

Andreas shrugged. 'Sure,' he got up slowly. 'Look, I gotta go take care of something,' he said, before walking away.

'I think he has a crush on you,' said Taylor.

'Come on!' I said.

Eww. That was not good. Andreas was definitely NOT MY TYPE.

'What do you think? He is your brother,' Taylor said to Jonas, as she lightly nudged him.

'I don't know. We don't sit around and talk about our "feelings." That's just…'

'Completely uncool for tough bikers like yourselves?' Taylor said sarcastically.

'Exactly,' Jonas grinned. They started to kiss. I got up quickly.

'Okay, gross. Moving along now,' I said.

'You don't have to go, Lila,' said Taylor, as she resurfaced.

'No, I don't _have_ to go, it's a choice thing,' I said, as I walked away. On my way past the 09er table, Alex nodded at me, giving me a small wave and a smile. I returned the gesture. Shortly afterwards, someone knocked into me.

'Watch where you're going!' A girl with obviously dyed blonde hair said to me.

'You bumped into me!' I protested.

'Only because _you_ were too busy oogling Alex Echolls. Like you even have a chance with him anyway. He's with Cassie, so keep your dirty paws off,' she said indignantly.

'Excuse me?' I asked. Who did this girl think that she was? And anyways, I had heard from Alex's own mouth that he and Cassie were not an item.

'Yeah, excuse you,' she said, as she continued to strut past me, and onwards to the 09er table, where she took a seat next to Cassie, who must have seen the whole ordeal, because she gave me a sympathetic look.

Why did Cassie hang out with such bitches? She seemed unusually nice and friendly on Sunday, perhaps that was all it was; just an act. But then I remembered that her and Taylor used to be friends; so she can't have been that bad. I wonder why they had stopped being friends?

I made my way over to the other side of school, where JD was sitting under his tree, engrossed in some assignment. I think he was ignoring me as I sat down.

'Ah, the old cold-shoulder. Never gets old,' I said, as I sat down next to him. He looked up from his work at me.

'Hey Lila.'

'What are you doing?'

'Some English assignment. Shakespeare. What is it good for, seriously?'

I shrugged, but he didn't see, as he continued to scrawl something down on the paper.

'So… did you have a good weekend?'

'It wasn't bad…went to battle of the bands,' he said, not looking at me. 'You?'

'I went to Cassie Casablancas' party on Saturday night.'

'Oh. How was that?'

'Pretty boring. The cops broke it up,' I said.

He looked up at me. 'My dad?' he asked embarrassedly.

'No. I don't think so,' I replied. 'We ran into them later on. The sheriff, who by the way is an absolute tool.' JD laughed. 'And some guy with a mustache.'

'Sacks. He's been there for years,' JD supplied. 'I heard a rumor that the Navarro's got arrested on Saturday night; they had a couple of girls with them.'

I blushed. 'Yeah, that was us. And what an experience that was,' I said sarcastically.

'Look…just, I dunno, be careful. They're kind of intense, the PCHers.'

'Wow, JD, are you trying to protect me? I'm flattered,' I said, as I held a hand across my heart jokingly.

'More like warning you,' he muttered.

'…and then on Sunday I had lunch with the charming Echolls and Casablancas families.'

JD looked at me interestedly. 'Okay. How the hell did that happen?'

I laughed. 'Long story. But it wasn't too bad, I guess.'

'Wow, looks like you're really getting in with the 09er crowd. First Taylor, now Alex and Cassie.'

'Doubt it,' I scoffed. 'But they're really not as bad as they seem.'

'I guess I'll just take your word on that one,' he said. I laughed.

* * *

The next week went on in the same fashion; most days I'd sit with JD or Taylor and the PCHers; I got through all of my schoolwork pretty easily. When Cassie or Alex would see me in the halls, they'd wave or say hello with a smile. I noticed that Cassie tended to do this more when other people weren't around, but still…

I hadn't even had a second thought about my little "investigation." After throwing the notepad in the trash, it was probably easier to just wait until my mom got back into town. She called from Boston practically every single night, but whenever I asked her whether she would be back for my birthday, she would just give an indefinite, "maybe," or "I'm not sure."

On Friday, Alex had surprised me by actually walking over to JD and me, who were sitting under our tree at lunch.

'Hey Lila,' he said.

'Oh hey, Alex,' I replied. JD looked at me questioningly. I gave him a slight shrug, so that Alex wouldn't notice.

'So, I was just checking to see if you were still coming to my party next weekend?' he asked.

I nodded. 'Yeah, I guess, if I'm still invited.'

He laughed. 'Of course!' His eyes suddenly found JD. 'Oh hey, you're Jack, right?'

'Yeah.'

'But just call him JD,' I added. JD grinned at me.

'Oh, well, you're welcome to come too,' Alex said.

'Yeah…um, maybe,' JD said.

'Well, it's on Saturday night, next weekend. My place. And you can come at anytime after eight,' Alex smiled.

'Okay. Thanks,' I said.

'See you then,' Alex said, as he started to walk away. He got halfway across the grass, when he turned around and said, 'We can exchange birthday greetings!'

I grinned, and waved back at him. When I looked back at JD, he had his eyebrows raised in a questioning look.

'Our birthday is on the same day,' I explained, before taking a bite of my apple.

'Really?'

'Yep, December 7th.'

'That's next week,' JD said.

'Wow, Einstein, you really are a genius,' I joked.

He rubbed the back of his neck. 'Maybe we could do something…for your birthday, you know, if you don't already have plans.'

'Yeah, I'd like that,' I said.

'So, the seventh is on a Thursday, right?' I nodded. 'Maybe we could catch a movie or something on Friday night?'

I smiled. 'Sounds like fun.'

'It's a plan then,' he smiled back.

* * *

On the weekend, I spent most of my time helping Grandad out with some filing at the office. It was quite interesting, reading about old cases.

I had my nose in one of the files when someone cleared their throat.

'I believe that's confidential,' said a man who stood in the doorway, a briefcase in his hand. He looked around Pop's age.

I blushed, putting the file down. 'Sorry. I didn't hear you come in.'

'No, it's okay,' he said with a small smile, as he took a seat opposite my desk.

'I think Mr Mars is with a client,' I said awkwardly.

'No problem. I'd rather sit out here and chat with you anyway. So, what are you? A new assistant? I didn't know Keith's bank balance stretched that far.'

'Um… no, actually. I'm his granddaughter.'

The man suddenly looked up at me, interested.

'So that's why you looked familiar,' he muttered. He spoke up, 'You're V's daughter?'

I nodded. 'Yep, Lila Mars, in the flesh,' I said.

'Wow, well, now I know where you got your snooping instinct from,' he said, motioning to the file that I had been reading as he walked in. 'your mom was a particularly nosy one. Snarky, witty, charming…but nosy.'

'You knew my mom?'

He chuckled. 'Oh yeah, whenever she needed a favour, I was number one on her list.'

We were interrupted by the door of Pop's office opening.

'Well, I'll be sure to get back to you soon, Mrs Walter,' he said, as he shook the client's hand.

'Thankyou, again, Mr Mars.'

'No problem. Bye,' he said, as she left the office. When Pop spotted the man in the chair opposite mine, his face broke into a wide grin.

'Cliff!' he greeted brightly.

'Keith. Still taking "money shots" for anxious trophy-wives, I see?'

Pop grinned. 'Hey, it's business. I see you've met Lila.'

'Yes, and what a fine receptionist she is. She's got nothing on her mother. Where is V at these days anyway?'

Keith shrugged. 'Boston is her home base.'

Cliff looked at me, 'I have to say though, you look a little different from the picture that your Grandpa keeps on his desk of you.'

I looked to Pop for an explanation. 'She was a cute baby. I just couldn't replace that picture.'

'Are you saying that I'm not cute anymore?' I asked, with a fake pout.

'That's exactly what I'm saying,' he joked. 'This is Cliff McCormack. He's a defense attorney.'

'Really?' I asked interestedly.

'Yeah. But I wouldn't get too excited about it – it's not a very glamorous job, the pay is…well… but hey! The free perks of seeing drunken celebrities at three in the morning always gives me a buzz,' said Cliff.

'Um, shouldn't celebrities be using their high-priced lawyers?' I asked. Yeah, I took Legal Studies back in Boston. Sue me.

'Probably. But when you're that far gone, you couldn't really care less who you get legal advice from…I have a case for you,' he said to Pop.

Pop crossed his fingers, 'please say that it involves the Sheriff's department and the seventh veil.'

'Not going to touch that one…bail jumper.'

'Is nothing sacred in my old age?' Pop asked jokingly, as he flashed a small grin in my direction. 'Come in,' he said, as he ushered Cliff into his office.

When they finished, ten minutes later, I put the file that I was snooping through down suddenly. Cliff saw this and gave me a subtle wink.

'Thanks again, Cliff,' Pop said.

'Oh, trust me, you're doing me a favour. Aside from the Navarro boys' latest escapades, this is by far my most interesting case.'

'I'll keep that in mind.'

'It was nice to finally meet you, Lila. Keith, see you on Tuesday?'

'Yeah. Bye.'

'Nice to meet you too,' I said, as he walked out the door. I turned to my grandfather. 'So, how do you know Mr McCormack?'

Pop chuckled. 'Cliff is an old friend. A very old friend. We help each other out…you know, with cases and stuff. Watch the game together occasionally.'

One of the questions that was swirling around in my head was, "why does he know of me, when Mr Fennel, who seemed like a close friend of my mom's had no idea that I even existed?"

How to word it less conspicuously? 'Um…so, you're pretty good friends with him then?'

'Yeah, why?' Pop asked suspiciously.

'No reason,' I said, a little too quickly. 'It's just…he seemed to know a bit about me.'

Pop sighed. 'Yeah, I mean, I don't get to play "proud grandparent" very often, but I just couldn't help brag to Cliff,' Pop shrugged. 'I mean, you are pretty amazing.'

I smiled. 'Awww, now don't go getting all sentimental on me,' I joked.

'I'm just proud,' he grinned. 'So, do you want to head out for dinner? Luigi's always has pretty good food.'

* * *

Before I knew it; the weekend was gone and I was back at school. (groan.) I couldn't help but look forward to this week though; I mean, it was my birthday.

I was headed to Newspaper when I spotted two girls coming out of the bathroom. It was that girl who had bumped into me last week, Cassie's friend, Michelle and another girl.

It was what they were saying that caught my attention.

'Who do you think it was?' Asked the girl with long black hair. I think that her name was Indiana, if I remembered correctly. She was in my Physics class.

'No idea,' said Michelle, as she studied her nails, not looking where she was going or at her surroundings. 'Some pathetic loser…I wouldn't put it past that new 'Mars' girl that Alex won't shut up about…'

I deliberately put myself in her way.

'Whoever it was, they sounded really upset. Maybe we should go back.'

'No – Oof!' Michelle had walked right into me.

'Watch where you're going,' I said, repeating her words from last week.

'Well,' said Michelle, as she turned to her friend. 'Looks like we can rule _Lila _out from being the pathetic loser who's crying their eyes out in the toilet, because she's right here!'

Indiana looked embarrassed as she looked back at me.

'I'm sorry to disappoint you,' I said sarcastically.

Michelle glared at me; she looked about ready to pounce when Alex strolled towards us with a grin on his face.

'Good morning. Did you have a good weekend?' he asked, as he stood facing me.

'Well, mine was great, Alex,' Michelle said.

He coughed. 'Actually, I was asking Lila.'

'Oh,' said Michelle, who looked a little embarrassed.

'Yeah, it was pretty good,' I answered with a grin, mostly because of how Alex had completely shunned Michelle.

'Oh, hey Indi,' he said, to Michelle's friend, as if just noticing that she was there.

'Alex,' she said with a small blush.

'Coming to my party this weekend?' he asked her.

'Yes, we are! We're so excited!' Michelle said. Indiana just nodded. 'Well, we'd better motor.'

She grabbed her friend's arm and steered her away, muttering a goodbye.

I gave a sigh of relief. 'Thank you.'

'For?' Alex asked.

'I think she was about ready to poke my eyes out.' Alex laughed at my statement.

'Don't worry about her. Michelle's a bitch. Like, a real bitch. My dad and Dick reckon she gets it straight from her mom.'

'Really?'

'Yeah, apparently they went to school with her. They say, and this is a direct quote; "that girl is a mini-Madison."' He chuckled. 'I guess the apple never falls far from the tree, huh?'

I shrugged. 'I'm not sure. I guess it's just how you've been brought up that determines what you'll be like.'

'I suppose you're right. See ya,' he said, as he started to walk away.

'Yeah, bye.'

Instead of heading in the direction of the journalism room; I walked into the girls bathroom. Yes, okay so I was the tiniest bit intrigued by what the girls were talking about.

I gathered that someone was having a really bad day, by the way that those two girls were talking. Sure enough; when I walked into the bathroom, I was met by the noise of sniffing and sobs.

I looked around the bathroom. It was completely deserted, apart from one cubicle, where the door was closed.

'Are you okay in there?' I asked.

'Ah…(sniff)…yeah…. I'm fine.' Came the answer. She didn't sound too convinced.

'Are you sure? Do you need anything?'

'No…I really am fine…' More sniffing.

'If you want someone to talk to, my ears are completely available for listening,' I offered.

'Um…no…could you please just go?'

Hey, I recognized that voice. I knew that voice.

'Cassie?' I asked. I didn't get an answer. 'Cassie; I know it's you. It's me, Lila.'

Still no answer. I entered the cubicle next to hers and stood on the toilet seat. I peered over the wall, and saw Cassie curled up into a ball, leaning against the door, crying.

'Cassie,' I said sympathetically. 'Come on out. You don't have to tell me anything. We can just sit. I have a whole free period to burn here.'

'No you don't…you have Newspaper now,' she sniffed.

Okay, so I _really_ was supposed to be in Newspaper right now; but doing a fake interview with the lacrosse team seemed to take a backseat to comforting an obviously distraught Cassie at this moment.

'To be fair, so do you.'

I got out of the cubicle and put the stopper in the door; blocking anyone else's access into the bathroom.

'I'm not leaving until you come out,' I stated.

* * *

**A/N ****I know, Cassie has another dimension to her, who would of thought?**

**Any guesses on what might have got her so upset? You know I do love to hear from everybody… Reviews are the greatest, and you will be rewarded if you review.**

**So, this chapter is short, and rushed…but not completely pointless. There was some vital information hidden inside. And Madison has a daughter!! I never originally planned for it, but it's because of you guys' feedback that Michelle has been added in (insert evil laugh here.)  
**

**For now, that's all folks. Next chapter should be up shortly, once I have received a few reviews (I really am evil.) I actually wrote ahead for once! It's a miracle, it really is.  
**

**Looking forward to hearing from you…**

**Peace.**


	7. A Little Less Sixteen Candles

**Previously…**

'Cassie,' I said sympathetically. 'Come on out. You don't have to tell me anything. We can just sit. I have a whole free period to burn here.'

Okay, so I was really supposed to be in Newspaper right now; but doing a fake interview with the lacrosse team seemed to take a backseat to comforting an obviously distraught Cassie at this moment.

I got out of the cubicle and put the stopper in the door; blocking anyone else's access.

'I'm not leaving until you come out.'

* * *

I heard the cubicle door swing open. I walked over to where Cassie was, and surprised myself by opening my arms, and embracing her in a hug.

After a moment, Cassie pulled loose. 'So I guess you're wondering what this is all about, huh?' she asked, as she walked over to a stall and grabbed some paper, wiping her eyes.

'You don't have to tell me…'

'I'm being stupid, anyway…overdramatic,' she murmured through sniffs, as she looked in the mirror. 'Great, now my mascara is all smudged,' she said half-heartedly.

'You don't look too bad,' I said.

'Stop trying to make me feel better – I know I look like crap.'

'No, really, when I start the waterworks I'm an absolute mess. A blotchy, red-faced mess,' I said, trying to make her feel a little bit better.

Cassie gave a wet chuckle, which turned into a small sob. I patted her back comfortingly.

'I don't know when I started all this…this crying…I used to be able to deal with this.'

'This?' I prompted. Cassie turned to face me.

'My mom. She's…horrible. You must have heard of her – Erica Sullivan?'

'Like, the model, Erica Sullivan?' I asked.

Cassie nodded. 'That's her. But it's ex-model. She runs a modeling agency now,' she said, in between sniffs.

I nodded. I knew the one, the famous agency, SC Models, in Los Angeles. They had recently been in the media a lot, for giving a string of talented models their big breaks.

'Anyway…I dunno, she's just been getting to me lately…everything that she says to me…it's been so much worse since my Aunt Mac left…I guess it really didn't bother me so much until then…' Cassie broke off, as she started to cry again. I recommenced the rubbing of her back.

'She told me that the only reason she married my dad was because she needed money to start her agency, and that I was just a way of ensuring that the funds would continue to come in after her career ended. Apparently I was the reason for that too. "Nobody wanted to hire a fat, pregnant, hormonal model." She said to me, like it was _my _fault.'

'Oh Cass,' I said quietly.

'They're divorced now. But I have to go and stay with her every second weekend. She practically ignores me; just drags me along to the agency with her…tells me to make small talk with the models, who are mostly cows. Some of them are nice though, but mom usually fires them, says they're too airy-fairy, whatever that means.'

Cassie turned and looked at me straight in the eye. 'She tells me that I'm too fat, that I'll never make it into the biz with "thighs like that," that my posture is "all wrong," that my boobs are "too small." She has me booked in to see a plastic surgeon for my next birthday, says that he'll get me all nice and fixed up. "A little bit of surgery never hurt anyone. With a pair of nice boobs, you could really have some potential. Boys might actually start to notice you, Cassidy." God, I just _hate_ her.'

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Was her mother serious? Cassie was a gorgeous girl; it was one of the things that had made me so intimidated about her in my first week. And she was certainly not fat at all.

'Oh my god, Cassie.' Was all that I could say. She started to cry again.

'But I don't want to see a plastic surgeon. I don't want to be a model. I don't want to be one of her Barbie dolls. I just want to be me.'

I hugged her again.

'She's horrible to me. I hate it. I hate her,' she said, as she pulled away.

'Have you told anyone? Does Richie know?' I asked.

'No. She isn't Richie's mom, just mine. I haven't told anyone yet, except you and Alex, but he wouldn't tell anyone.'

'What about your dad?'

She scoffed. 'Please! If I told Richie, or my dad, or Logan, then the three of them would head up to LA and murder her, not that I would mind but…You won't tell anyone, will you?' she asked.

'Not if you don't want me to,' I said.

'I would appreciate it,' she said quietly.

'I won't tell. I promise.' Cassie gave me a small, sad smile.

'So, there's my family drama,' she said, as she wiped her eyes. 'Anything you'd like to get off your chest?' she asked jokingly.

'Actually…' I said.

'Please don't tell me you have a female dog of a mother too?' she asked.

'No. My mom is fine. My dad however…'

'Oh my god,' she said, suddenly alarmed. 'He doesn't…hit you or anything?'

'No. No,' I assured her. She sighed. 'Good,' she said.

'I just never knew him,' I said.

'Of course. I forgot that you said that the other day,' said Cassie, referring to the lunch I had with the Casablancas/Echolls.

'I'm actually trying to find him, which is turning into quite the investigation,' I said.

'Tell me about it,' said Cassie, as she took a seat on the bench.

I shook my head. 'I don't know much,' I lied.

As much as I wanted to talk to Cassie about my family, and I did – I felt like I owed her some information about my personal life, when she had let me in on her own. I couldn't tell her about Logan and Alex, they were practically her family. And if I was wrong about this (but how could I be? Our birthday was on the same day! How could that be just a coincidence?) Then I could be rather embarrassed.

'Well, let me know when you find out more, or, you know, if you ever need someone to talk to about anything,' she said.

'Thanks,' I smiled at her.

'No. Thank you,' she said, as she hugged me. 'I haven't had a real girl friend since Taylor. I mean, those other girls are…'

'Superficial bimbos?' I supplied.

'Pretty much,' she smiled.

'What happened with you and Taylor anyway?' I asked.

She shook her head sadly. 'I dunno. It kind of stemmed from this whole issue with my mom. I just…I started to push her away little by little. I should have told her, she was my best friend, but I didn't think she'd understand, I mean, have you seen her family? Her perfect, completely functional, loving family? I just didn't know how she'd react to hearing about mine, being the complete opposite.'

'Anyway, one day we just…we had a fight about…some tiny thing, and then all of a sudden we were worst enemies. She started dating Jonas, and by the way I totally set those two up, and then it was Casablancas vs. Fennel. From there on out.'

'That's sad,' I said.

'It is really,' Cassie admitted. She smiled a little, as if she was remembering something. 'We met when we were really little, at my Aunt Mac's place. Well, she isn't really my Aunt, but I just call her that because we're so close. She's my godmother, Taylor's too and Alex's,' she giggled. 'We were there for Mac's birthday, all of us. I don't think our dad's get along very well, but we met when we were fighting over the same piece of cake.'

She smiled at me.

'Wow, "Mac" seems to have acquired a lot of godchildren,' I commented.

Cassie smiled at me. 'She says that she doesn't need any kids of her own, because she has her very own following back here, in Neptune,' Cassie grinned. 'You would like her, she's awesome. But she's in Japan at the moment.'

All of a sudden something clicked.

'_Then there was Mac,' Pop said with a smile. 'Cindy Mackenzie. She was really good with computers…give her enough time, and she could hack into any account,' he said. I smiled at him. 'I think she went over to Japan to work for some technology company a few years ago.'_

Mac…one of my mother's old friends, along with Wallace Fennel - Taylor's dad, Dick Casablancas – Cassie's dad and Logan Echolls himself.

I couldn't help but think that there was something that I was missing here, like a piece of the puzzle.

'Hello…Earth to Mars?' Cassie asked, as she waved a hand in front of my face.

I snapped out of my thoughts. Cassie giggled.

'Daydreaming?' she asked.

'Uh, yeah,' I said.

'Well, thanks, now I guess I have to get back to reality – this school reality,' she sighed, as she jumped off the bench.

I took the stopper from the door as Cassie tried to neaten herself up.

'Thanks, again. You can totally crash at mine after Alex's party if you want,' she offered, as we walked down the hall.

'I'll see how the night pans out, but thanks for the offer.'

'Come on! You have to, it'll be fun. We'll be celebrating for your birthday too, even if I have to force drinks down your throat,' Cassie said.

'We'll see,' I said reluctantly.

* * *

'Hey, I missed you in Newspaper this morning…how was I supposed to conduct our ongoing interview with the lacrosse team without you?' JD asked with a grin, as he caught up with me in the hall later that day.

'Sorry, I was …preoccupied.'

'Oh, okay,' JD said. I couldn't help but notice that he was a little disheartened when he said this.

'What?' I asked, regarding his tone.

'Oh, um, nothing, I just…don't worry, it's dumb.'

'What?'

'I just…you weren't…I don't know…making out with Andreas Navarro or anything, were you?'

'What? Eww. No!' I assured him.

'Well that's comforting,' he said, with a small smile.

'I was just helping a friend through some issues, that's all. I _promise_ I won't miss the next installment of our non-existent interview with the lacrosse team.'

He laughed, 'Yeah, because it's so vital,' he joked.

* * *

On Thursday morning, when I woke up, I was greeted by my Pop's smiling face as he opened the door and announced that my blueberry pancakes were up.

I couldn't help but think that this day was already starting out perfectly – blueberry pancakes were my all-time favourite!

When I got to school, Taylor immediately tracked me down carrying what looked like a toy.

'Happy birthday!' She said excitedly, before giving me a hug and handing me a purple toy hippo.

'So, do I get to carry this around all day?' I asked confusedly.

She sighed. 'I forget just how new and clueless you are,' she said. 'Of course you get the _pleasure_ of carrying this around. People sign it, and write birthday messages on it. See, there's mine!' she pointed to its head.

_Happy birthday Lila! _

_Hope you have the best day! _

_Love, Taylor :)_

_XOXOXOXO_

'It's purple, because that's what Lila means in German,' she stated. I grinned at her.

'Thanks for this.'

She smiled. 'Are you kidding? Soak it up, girl, it only comes around once a year, right?'

'True.'

'Look. I even got the guys to sign it,' she said, as she pointed out a few messages. 'They were a little hesitant, but they did it.'

I looked at the other messages in home class.

_Happy Birthday, Lila. _

_You're cool_

_- Jonas_

**_PABLO WAS HERE ON LITTLE LILA'S B-DAY_**

_16? Seriously?_

_Des_

**_Rusty is the shit_**

Someone had obviously crossed out the "the" so it read,

**_Rusty is shit_**

I laughed at that. Wow, the PCHers sure were a creative bunch. I found Andreas' message hidden on the bottom of it.

_Lila – _

_I'm glad I met you. _

_You're a top chick and an awesome girl_

_Happy birthday._

_Andreas_

* * *

'Happy birthday!' said Alex as he walked next to me, as I headed over to my first class.

'Happy birthday yourself,' I said as I grinned at him.

'Why thank you, Lila. So, what did you get?' he asked.

'No presents yet. I have to wait for tonight,' I said. He didn't ask for a further explanation into that. 'What about you?'

'Brand spanking new surfboard. I almost didn't come today, because I wanted to try it out so badly. Dad made me though.'

'Sweet,' I said, using my surfer's lingo.

'You forgot the "dude."' Alex laughed. 'Can I sign?' he asked, motioning to the hippo.

'Go right ahead,' I said, as I gave it to him. He took a texta out of his bag and scrawled something.

'Well, have the best day,' he said.

'You too.'

'Catch you…at my party?' I nodded and he handed the hippo back to me, as he walked off.

_Hey birthday buddy!_

_Have a sweet day_

_We're gonna party hard, ok?_

_Alex_

I smiled to myself as I read the message.

I only saw JD at lunch, but he gave me a one armed hug. And said, 'Happy birthday! Having a good day?'

'Yeah, pretty good so far,' I said, as I sat on the grass under our tree.

'My mom sent these,' he said with a blush as he took a container out of his bag. When he opened it, I saw that it contained two elegantly decorated cupcakes.

'Seriously? That is so sweet,' I said, as I took one.

'Hey! I never said they were for you,' he joked.

I took a bite. 'Mmm. JD, these are so good,' I said. He reached over for the hippo and read the messages, the latest one being from Cassie.

_Lila, thank you so much for everything_

_You are a real friend_

_Hope you have the best birthday_

_16! Woo!_

_Cassie xoxo_

'Well, aren't you popular?' he asked. 'There's hardly room for me.'

'Nope. Right there,' I said, as I pointed out a bare patch on its side. He put the hippo down and started to eat his sandwich.

'I'll sign it later,' he said.

'Promise?' I asked. He grinned.

'So, what movie do you want to see tomorrow?' he asked. 'No chick flicks!'

I laughed, then put on a fake pout, 'But, JD, it's my birthday.'

He grinned. 'Fine, but only because it's your birthday.' I smiled.

'Honestly, I don't mind what movie. Maybe a comedy?'

'Sure,' he said with a grin. He picked up the hippo and started to write on it.

I moved, so I could see what he was writing, but he moved away so that I couldn't see. 'Sneaky,' he commented.

When he had finished, he put the cap back on the pen dramatically and threw the toy at me.

_Lila_

_Before you came here I was a complete loner. _

_But you make me actually look forward to coming to school._

_Have an awesome day today. Happy birthday!_

_Looking forward to tomorrow night._

_JD_

'Aww, you're going to make me blush,' I said.

'It's true. So don't go back to Boston.'

I was stunned. Sure, I had had friends before. But they weren't really true friends. I had never had someone who actually cared about whether I went away. And it felt good to know that someone really did care about you.

I could feel tears start to well up in my eyes. _Oh, god, Lila, pull yourself together. Do __not_ _start sobbing._

I rubbed my eyes in a way that (hopefully) just made me look as if I was tired.

JD was grinning at me. 'I have your present at home. I'll give it to you tomorrow night.'

'You didn't have to get me anything,' I said.

'No, I wanted to,' he said.

When lunch was finished, JD said that he'd pick me up tomorrow night from my house. Following my usual routine, I would probably eat lunch with Taylor and the PCHers tomorrow, so we wouldn't get a lot of time to speak.

* * *

When I got home from school that night, I half expected mom to jump out from behind the door and bear hug me, yelling 'happy birthday!'

When I got home, however, there was no mom. I was actually feeling disappointed. As much as Pop had told me, 'not to get my hopes up,' it had never occurred to me that mom wouldn't show. I had never in my life spent this amount of time away from her, and I thought that she'd at least show up for my birthday.

Turns out I was wrong.

Pop hugged me and asked me how my day was.

'Good,' I answered.

'And…ah, what's that?' he asked.

I held the hippo up. 'This is Harold the hippopotamus,' I said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

'Oh, I'm sorry,' he said, as he slapped his forehead. 'I completely forgot that this was your sixth birthday, not your sixteenth.'

'Ha ha,' I said sarcastically. 'It was a gift from Taylor.'

'Well, that was nice of her,' said Pop.

'Any sign of mom?'

He shook his head sadly, 'Sorry, kiddo. But hey!' he said brightly, obviously trying to make me feel better, 'we can have fun without your mother, I'm sure.'

I nodded, although I didn't quite believe it myself.

* * *

Friday came soon enough, and just like that, my birthday had been and gone.

If I said that I wasn't excited about going to the movies with JD or going to Alex's party; I would have been lying. My insides felt like they were having a party of their own, just thinking about the upcoming weekend.

Taylor had planned my outfit for the movies at lunch.

'And you _have_ to wear that cute skirt tonight,' she said.

'How is it that you just know the contents of my wardrobe?' I asked.

She shrugged, 'I have a very good memory. Remember that time I helped you get ready before _Cassidy's _party?' She asked, drawing out Cassie's name bitterly. 'I just think it's so cute that you're going on a date with Jack.'

'It's JD. And it's _not_ a date!'

'Keep telling yourself that, Mars,' Taylor said. I opened my mouth to speak, but Taylor cut me off. 'Kidding!'

'Hey, Pab?' I asked Pablo, who wasn't listening to our conversation, but tuned in when I said his name.

'Yeah?'

'Do you think you could have Taylor "taken care of?"' I asked jokingly.

He cracked his knuckles, joining in on the joke. 'I'm sure that can be arranged.'

'You even think about it and I'll break every bone in your body,' said Jonas warningly. Pablo laughed and walked over to the drink machine.

* * *

It's not a date. It's not a date. Just two friends going to see a movie. It is _not_ a date.

Yeah, okay, so Taylor's words had gotten to me a little. Why was it that if you were friends with a guy, everyone just presumed that you were dating? Alex and Cassie were a prime example of it.

I was thinking so hard that I barely noticed that I had let myself into the apartment unconsciously.

'Lila!' Said someone as they threw themselves at me.

'Mom!' I said excitedly as I hugged her back. She pulled away a little and studied my face, stroking my hair lightly. I could see the tears start to well in her eyes, and I didn't even realize that one was running its track down my cheek, until she brushed it away.

'I missed you.'

* * *

**A/N Veronica's baaaaack!**

**So, yeah, I updated pretty darn quickly (I am just _that _good. lol.) This is what too much free time and too many red bulls will do to you. Hehe. But, the reviews were just so awesome, that I couldn't resist.**

**So, what did you think? What happens now that Veronica's back in Neptune? Any ideas? You know where to put 'em!**

**Coming up in the near future: Alex's party (and, yeah, it's going to be good.) If you want to see it, you know what to do. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.  
**

**All I can say (to everyone that has reviewed so far) is that you guys totally rock! Seriously, I have a permanent smile plastered on my face. So, please don't stop reviewing. I thrive on it. It just fuels me to get the next chapter to you quicker.**

**Peace.**


	8. The After Life Of The Party

**Previously…**

'Lila!' Said someone as they threw themselves at me.

'Mom!' I said excitedly as I hugged her back. She pulled away a little and studied my face, stroking my hair lightly. I could see the tears start to well in her eyes, and I didn't even realize that one was running its track down my cheek, until she brushed it away.

'I missed you.'

* * *

'I missed you too. I'm so sorry that I missed your birthday,' said mom, as she wiped her own tears away, that had started to make tracks down her own cheeks.

'It's okay. You're here now,' I said. As soon as I said it, I felt like I was in a cheesy movie, and started to laugh.

'What are you doing?' asked mom, as she started to laugh too.

'I don't know,' I said, as both she and I continued to laugh and cry at the same time.

When Pop walked in from his bedroom, he was utterly surprised by the scene that greeted him.

'What on god's green earth is going on in here?' he asked, with a grin.

'What's going on is that we need to _properly_ celebrate my girl's birthday, that's what!' said mom, as she put her arm around my back (she probably would have put it around my shoulder if I was a little shorter.) 'The Padres game is on tonight. And the oven is preheated.'

'Great,' said Pop, as he rubbed his hands together. 'I'll dial a pizza. Cho's?'

Mom nodded. 'Of course! Who do you think I am?' she joked. I looked at my mother and smiled. She smiled back.

Twenty minutes later; I was sitting on a stool at the breakfast bar talking to my mom about school and all the new friends that I had made. I walked into my room and brought out the hippo.

'What is that?' she asked interestedly.

'A present from my friend Taylor, she's cool. I got all of my friends to sign it; here, there's her message. Then there's Andreas, Pablo's, Rusty's…just ignore his, Des' and Jonas'… they're not very creative. I'm not sure if you would approve of them…'

'Why?' Mom asked suspiciously.

'Well, they all ride motorbikes and are part of a gang,' I said quietly.

She looked at me with a stern look. 'PCHers?'

I nodded. Mom didn't say anything, she just laughed. 'I don't believe it. Things really haven't changed a lot since I've been gone, have they?'

'I wouldn't know,' I said modestly. 'See, there's Cassie's and JD's… Oh my god! JD!'

I had completely forgotten about JD amongst my mother's homecoming. I immediately grabbed for my cell and called him; telling him why I couldn't make it tonight.

I almost reconsidered staying home with my mom tonight, because he sounded so disappointed. But, I reminded myself that mom could go home at any time, and I wanted to spend as much time with her as possible before she went back to Boston.

'I'm really sorry, JD,' I said.

'No, it's okay. Don't be sorry. I mean, spend time with your mom.'

I grinned, even though he couldn't see me. 'Thank you. Rain check on the movies?'

'Of course. You're not bailing on me, Mars,' he said with a laugh.

'Okay. Are you coming to Alex's tomorrow?' I asked.

'Um…I don't know…maybe,' he said.

'Well, anyway, I guess I'll see you whenever. Bye.'

'Bye. Have a good night.'

'I will.'

I heard a click as he disconnected the call. I breathed out a sigh. It just felt bad to bail on him, for some reason.

'So, was "JD" upset that you had to cancel your date?' mom asked, when I walked back into the kitchen.

'It wasn't a date. We were going to the movies for my birthday.'

'Oh really?' she asked, 'because that sounds like a date to me.'

'It wasn't a date.'

'Sure, because even if it _was_ a date, you know I'd be totally cool with that, right? Like, I would have no problem, just as soon as I'd met him.'

'JD's just a friend. And you don't have to worry about him. He's nice and sweet and…he's just not…you know.'

'What?' mom asked, with a smirk.

'I'm not talking to you about this,' I said, as I turned around, slightly embarrassed and concentrated on the TV.

'Come on, Lils, I'm just playing around. So what are the plans for this weekend?'

'Well, I don't know about you; but I'm going to a party tomorrow night.'

'Really? Who's?'

'Alex's,' I said, hoping for a reaction. Unfortunately, I couldn't see her face because she had now turned; so that her back was facing me.

'Another boy?'

'Yes, Alex is a boy,' I said. She nodded, but took her attention away from me as Pop entered the kitchen.

'How's the bakery coming along?' he asked, as he looked into the oven.

'Not at all, if you keep opening that door,' mom retorted. Pop pouted at her. 'And don't pull that sad puppy-dog face at me.'

'What? This face?' Pop asked.

'Yes!' mom.

I laughed at them.

Later on, when we were all full from too much pizza and cake; sitting on the couch whilst Pop yelled at the TV, I realised just how much I loved my family, however dysfunctional and non-traditional we were.

* * *

Saturday came soon enough and mom bustled into my room bright and early.

'So,' she said, as she sat down on my bed. My mom had always been an early riser, I however, liked a sleep in. 'I was thinking that we could hit the mall today and shop for some new clothes. I mean, you can't really go to a party in old sweats.'

'True,' I groaned, as I tried hiding from the light, pulling the covers over my head.

'Since when does my own daughter sleep in?' she asked.

'Since she moved to Neptune and her mother doesn't wake her up,' I mumbled.

'I have something for you, sleepy head,' she said, as she gently eased the covers away from me. I sat upright, curious about the "something."

Mom took a small box out of her pocket. 'Happy birthday. Sorry it's late…now this isn't all of your present, okay?'

I opened it gingerly. Inside was my mother's star shaped necklace; the one that she kept on at all times.

'Mom. This is your necklace. I can't take this,' I said, as I tried to give it back to her, but she pushed my arm away.

'Wrong on both counts. One, the necklace never belonged to me. It was Lilly Kane's necklace. Her dad gave it to me a few weeks after she died…he said that she would have wanted me to have it. But I want you to have it. And secondly; you will take this, and you will wear it with pride. This has the soul of a seventeen-year-old girl still inside it, and you're close enough.'

She gave me a small, sad smile. And I considered just how hard it would have been for mom to have lost her best friend when she was so young. I had never really thought about it, until now.

'Thank you. I love it.'

'I knew you would,' she said. 'Now get up! Our coveted shopping trip awaits!'

I groaned as she left my room, leaving me to get dressed. 'You don't even _like_ the mall.'

* * *

Several hours of painful shopping and protests later; my mother and I were sitting in the food court at the mall. She was flicking through the paper as she picked at her salad, and I was slurping loudly on my squishee.

'Do you mind?' someone asked, as they turned around. It was a woman, who looked as if she loved plastic surgery, judging by her obviously botoxed face.

'Sorry,' I said. The woman turned to my mom, who wasn't paying any attention to the situation.

'Veronica Mars?' she asked. My mom looked up at the speaker, but confusion crossed her face, as she didn't recognize them. 'What the hell are _you_ doing back here?'

'Sorry, I didn't realise that I wasn't permitted "back here."' Mom retorted. 'I'm surprised to see you in a food court, Madison. Won't it ruin you're figure?' She paused, before answering her own question, 'oh, right. Why not eat, when you can just have liposuction, right?'

'You don't know a thing about me anymore, Mars,' said the woman, Madison.

'They didn't have diet, mom, so I just got regular,' said someone as they approached the table. I recognized this speaker as none other than Michelle.

Madison scowled at her daughter. 'You know I can't drink this.'

'Sorry,' Michelle said. She noticed that I was sitting there. 'Lila Mars. Well, I can't say I'm surprised.'

Madison raised her eyebrows. 'She's yours?' she asked my mom.

'No, Madison, she's my uncle's cousin's brother-in-law's daughter's husband, twice removed,' she said sarcastically. 'Yes, Madison, this is my daughter.'

'Go back and get me another one,' said Madison to Michelle as she handed her back the drink, Michelle huffed, but then complied.

'So, is she an Echolls or a Kane? Or did you try for Dick after they made you get a pre-nup?' Madison asked meanly. But, I reminded myself that she did have a point.

'Unlike you, Maddy, my life doesn't center around a pre-nuptial agreement. And I don't see how that's any of your business anyway,' mom almost hissed. She got up to leave. Madison laughed. 'Should you be smiling; I mean, won't that screw up your botox?'

I laughed, but tried to disguise it as a cough as Madison glared at me.

'Come on, Lila,' said mom, as she started to walk away. I followed behind her. When we were a distance away I spoke.

'That was awesome. Did you see her face? Shut down!' I said. Mom smiled back at me. 'So how do you know her?'

'Believe it or not, I went to school with Madison. We weren't the best of friends, to say the least.'

'No kidding! She looked as if she was about to stab you with her plastic fork.'

* * *

'So, I'm staying at Cassie's tonight, okay, so you don't have to worry about me,' I said, as I walked into the kitchen, taking a sip of water as I passed through.

'Yes, you've told us about a hundred times,' said Pop. 'Have fun, okay?'

'I will,' I said, as I flashed him a wide grin. 'Are you ready to go, mom?' I asked.

'Yep,' she said, as she entered the room and grabbed her keys. 'And you're sure that you sorted everything out with Cassie's parents?'

'Trust me, I don't think that Dick minds,' I laughed and waved to Pop as I walked out the door.

'Dick?' Mom asked curiously, as soon as we were outside. I couldn't read her expression.

'Cassie's dad. He's cool. I've met him,' I said.

'Cassie? Like Cassidy?' she asked.

I stopped walking and looked at her. 'Yeah. Why? How did you know that?' I asked.

She shrugged. 'Just a guess.'

I wasn't buying it for a second. How many people were named Cassidy? Was this something more to look into?

'You're going to be late to your party!' said mom from the car.

* * *

Mom had dropped me off out the front of the Echolls place; where I could already see a bunch of people and hear the music pulsating through the walls.

'Give me a call when you're ready to be picked up, okay?' Mom practically yelled. I gave her an "okay" signal with my fingers. 'Just…be safe, okay?'

'I'll be fine!' I yelled. 'See you later.'

I waved as she drove away.

The front door was wide open, so I walked into the house. Michelle and her redheaded friend Stacey immediately accosted me.

'Well, well, well, if it isn't Veronica Mars' daughter,' Michelle said.

'So last week I was "that Mars girl" and now I'm "Veronica Mars' daughter"?' I asked.

'My mother told me all about _your_ mother,' she said.

'Really?' I asked. 'Well, I'm kind of not really interested in what you have to say…so, if you'll excuse me,' I said, as I continued on my way past her.

'You can't just ignore us!' Yelled Stacey.

'Can and will!' I yelled back.

'Can and will, what? And please tell me that the answer is "party,"' said Richie as he almost ran into me.

'Hey,' I smiled at him. 'Crashing another lame high school party?' I asked.

He shrugged. 'Something like that. But, hey, I've always got my stash to keep me company.'

I nodded. 'Right.'

'Want a drink?' he asked.

'I'm not thirsty. Maybe later?'

'Sure. Give me a holler if you need anything, all right?' he asked, patting me on the shoulder as he walked away.

I found myself in the backyard within an hour; just to get away from all of the pop music that was blasting through the speakers.

'Hey! There you are! Richie said that he'd seen you,' said Cassie, as she took a seat next to me.

'Hey Cass. Having a good night?' I asked.

'Not without you! Come on, let's par-tay!'

'Par-tay?' I asked disapprovingly. She shrugged, but grabbed my arm, tugging me along. 'Cute outfit, by the way, and I love your necklace.'

My hand immediately reached for the charm, as I stroked it. It kind of felt comforting, in a way. 'Thanks.'

Before we could make it back inside, however, Alex had caught up to us.

'You made it!' he said to me. I felt Cassie's grip leave my arm, as she waved subtly, walking back into the house.

'I said I would.'

'Hey, can I talk to you?' he asked. I was a little confused. 'Sure,' I replied.

'Inside,' he said, as he started to walk away, making sure that I was still with him. We started to walk up the stairs; the rooms that were "off limits."

Alex's dad, Logan was walking towards us. He smiled at me. 'Hey, Lila. How are –'

He stopped talking, and almost stopped dead in his tracks. I noticed that he was looking at my throat. (I sincerely hope that he wasn't about to suck my blood…) but more importantly, at the necklace that I was wearing.

'Uh, dad?' Alex asked confused.

* * *

**LOGAN**

'Hey, upstairs is off limits,' I said to a couple who were drunkenly walking up the stairs.

'Uh, sorry, dude,' said the boy, who was practically holding the girl up.

What was the bet that those two were looking for a place to hook up and fool around? Well, they were just going to have to do it someplace else.

It didn't seem like that long ago that I was attending parties just like this one; looking to get wasted and hook up. I just couldn't believe that my _son_ was at that same age now.

As I heard the stairs creak, I was about to tell someone else to "get lost." Maybe this time I'd say it louder, so that everyone would hopefully get the message.

Yeah, so maybe I was a little bit surprised to see Alex and Lila walk up the stairs.

I smiled at her. She was a nice girl. 'Hey Lila. How are-' I didn't finish my question. The reason being that the light had caught something around her throat. As I studied it closer, I realized that it was her necklace. But that wasn't just any sort of necklace.

I had seen enough of _that_ necklace to last a lifetime.

'Uh, dad?' I barely heard Alex.

I had seen that necklace on the only two girls that I would _never_ forget – Lilly and Veronica.

Now I could see both teenagers looking at me funnily.

Snap out of it, Logan. That can't be _the_ necklace. There are probably thousands out there just like that. What are you spacing out about?

I put on a smile. 'Have a good night. I'm going to bed.' I said, as I walked back into my room, a million questions (that were probably figments of my imagination) swirling around inside my head.

* * *

**LILA**

'Um, okay, that wasn't weird,' I joked. (Another weird thing I should keep in the back of my mind regarding my paternity?)

'Yeah, not at all,' said Alex. 'Come into here.'

He opened the door to his right and walked into the room, holding it open for me, but closing it as soon as I walked through. I realized that this was most probably his bedroom.

'So,' he took a seat on the bed. 'Cassie told me that she told you…'

'Yeah, about her mom,' I said.

'Well, I just wanted to say thanks, you know. This past year has been really tough on her. So, just, thanks.'

'I was just happy to help. I like Cassie.'

He grinned. 'Me too.'

I hadn't noticed when I had sat next to him on the bed, but here I was.

'It really means a lot…' he broke off, and I noticed that his face was getting closer and closer to mine. I pushed him away, realizing that he was moments away from kissing me. 'What's wrong?' he asked.

'I…we can't,' I said simply.

'What? Why?'

'Because…'

'Because _what_?' he was close to yelling now.

I stood up from the bed. 'Because you're my twin brother!'

He looked at me for a moment, confused, before he started laughing uncontrollably.

'Good excuse, Lila,' he laughed. 'Look, if I was moving too fast, you could have just said. I don't want to pressure you.'

'I'm serious! Don't you think it's weird that our birthdays are on the same day? That our parents dated? That I never knew my dad and you suppose that your mom is "dead?"'

Alex's face dropped. 'You're serious? Have you been drinking? Taken drugs of any sort?'

'No!'

'It's just not possible…I'm not sure why you think this, but we aren't twins,' he said soundly.

'How do you know?'

'How do you know that we are?' he asked. He calmed down and said rationally, 'Look, unless my mom had another baby that no one was told about; then we can't be twins. But my dad was in the hospital room! He tried to tell me all the gory details once. We aren't twins,' he paused. 'Your mom and my dad?'

'Apparently,' I said quietly. How could I have been wrong about this?

'Look,' he crossed over to his dresser drawer and held out a small picture for me to see. 'This is my mom,' he said.

The picture was of a woman; I could tell that she was related to Alex, they had the same eyes. The woman in the picture was holding a baby proudly in her arms. The actual picture was old and worn and not very good quality; but there it was, the evidence that proved me very wrong.

'Want to know why I never drink, or take drugs?' he asked. I nodded slowly, waiting for his answer. 'Almost one year exactly after that picture was taken; my mother was found dead in a nightclub. Of an overdose. She had high traces of alcohol and drugs in her body. She was addicted,' he said sadly.

'Oh my god, Alex. I'm so…so sorry,' I said, as I moved closer to him. He shook his head. 'My parents never loved each other. They met in a club, surprise, surprise. One thing led to another, and nine months, and one cheap Las Vegas shotgun wedding later, here I was. Well, that's what I've gathered anyway. I've met my Uncle a couple of times…a couple of my cousins. They aren't too bad. The only family I have left, I guess, apart from my Aunt Trina.'

'I'm sorry…'

He turned suddenly to me. 'Why would you think that I was…your brother?' he shivered, as if remembering that a while ago, he had tried to kiss me, well, I imagined that this was what he was thinking.

'I…well I've never known my dad. My mom never told me who he was. So…I started sort of, and investigation. It's just…Pop said that your dad was his main suspect. I just figured that it was too much of a coincidence that our birthdays were on the same day, right?'

'That's a whole load of "circumstance" to base that conclusion on,' he stated.

'I know,' I said, shamefully. 'I was just…I don't know, at this stage, I just kind of grabbed onto what I thought was right.'

He hugged me around the shoulders. 'Not twins,' he said simply.

'There is still a possibility that we could be half-siblings though,' I said quietly.

He turned around, from where he was trying to exit the room.

'What? So our parents probably dated, like, in high school, and there's a possibility that we could be half-siblings?' he asked.

'There's a possibility that there could be an earthquake right now. That's why it's called a possibility,' I said.

He nodded. 'Right. Well, are you any closer to finding out who your real dad is?'

'Not really…but my mom's back in town, so, I could be.'

'If you need anything, I'm here.'

'Thanks.'

'See you later.'

I nodded, and closed the door behind me as I let myself out. As soon as I left, I breathed deeply. Somehow, I just felt horrible. Yeah, I had pretty much accused my new friend Alex, of being my twin. And I had turned out wrong. There were hardly words to express my embarrassment right now. But, hey! On the bright side, at least no one else was around to see it.

As I walked down the stairs, I saw Michelle grinding up against Richie in time to the music. He didn't look as if he was enjoying it as he tried to get away from her. As soon as he spotted me, his face rose and he practically ran towards me.

'Help me. She won't leave me alone!' he said. I laughed, realizing that he was talking about Michelle. She was staring daggers at me, as she understood that I was holding Richie's attention. 'You are so my fake girlfriend for the next hour,' Richie said, and before I could protest, he draped his arm over my shoulder and pulled me close like I was his.

'Yeah, okay, big shot,' I said sarcastically.

'Don't worry, I can totally make it up to you,' he said suggestively.

'I think I'll pass on that,' I laughed.

Richie led me towards the couch, and it was fun sitting there; talking to the other people as they came and went.

I got up later on, searching for a drink.

'Want anything?' I asked.

'A threesome?' he joked. I walked away, laughing and shaking my head.

When someone passed me a cup, I probably should have thrown it away; especially not knowing what was in it; but to tell the truth, I was so thirsty that I just drank from it.

Fifteen minutes later, I was walking through the crowd, which was becoming blurrier as I went on. I could feel my vision fail, slowly followed by my hearing as my world was flipped on its axis.

That was the last thing I remembered.

* * *

**A/N This chapter should have been out sooner, but my mom was all like "no computer until you've cleaned your room." And it was trashed. Don't blame me, blame her.  
**

**Comments? Questions? Insults anyone wants to hurl at me for not making Lila and Alex twins? You know where to go. I'm sorry; it just wasn't in the original game plan. Please don't hate me. Lol.**

**So, what do you think has happened to Lila? Any ideas? A repeat of what happened to Veronica? You'll have to stay tuned and review if you want to know more.**

**Next chapter, or the chapter after I can definitely promise some Logan/Veronica interaction. OMG OMG OMG! **

**I'd seriously love to hear what you think is going to happen in the story, or any guesses of who Lila's father is?? I've been hearing a lot of Logan "if it's not Logan I'm going to die" and "LoVe is the only way!" a few people have had different ideas though (Lamb and Dick. Just naming a couple.)**

**All I can say is: WOW! The reviews have been so awesome. I am completely overwhelmed. But I love everyone (ten times over) for reviewing. You guys rule!**

**Peace.**


	9. Switchblades And Infidelity

I opened my eyes slowly.

Why didn't this room look familiar? I tried to think back to last night…uh…Alex, Richie…nothing.

I didn't recognise this room. The walls were almost covered in posters of weird bands that I'd never heard of and pictures of big waves being surfed.

Oh my god… did I? I didn't, did I? I check under the covers and breathe a sigh of relief. My clothes seem to be still intact and the way that I left them. But then, where the hell am I? And how did I end up here?

The last thing I remembered was getting up from the couch…I was getting a drink. Where am I? Whose room is this?

My answer came, when Richie walked through the door, fully clothed, with a toothbrush in his mouth, whistling. How can you even whistle whilst brushing your teeth?

'Hey! She's awake!' he said, when he realized that I was, indeed awake.

I gave him half a smile. 'What happened? What am I doing here?'

I presumed that this was his room.

He stuck up one finger, as if to say "hold on, one second," before exiting through the door again. I could hear the tap running. Then he returned and sat on the end of the bed, sans toothbrush.

'What exactly were you drinking last night?' he asked seriously, and for once, the Richie changes, from nice, joking, slightly perverted Richie to serious, calm, might be actually worried Richie.

Drink? 'I don't know…I grabbed a cup…and that's all I remember.'

He tuts at me. 'Do you not know the first rule of stranger danger?' he pauses, before talking again, 'I found you, passed out on the floor of the dining room.'

'Oh my god,' I barely whisper.

'Yeah. If there's one thing that my dad told me; and he doesn't have many rules, by the way, it's; "if you _ever_ see a girl passed out at a party. Don't. I repeat, do not leave her by herself. No matter how much you dislike her." That's one of the first things my dad taught me. Weird, huh?'

I nodded. 'I guess…why would he…?'

'No idea. But I saw you there, and I knew what he was talking about. Anyway, Cass seems to really like you. She would have cut my balls off if anything had happened to you,' he joked.

'Nothing happened, right?' I asked, worried.

He shook his head. 'Nothing happened. I brought you straight up here. I have to admit, though. You ruined my high school party experience for me!'

'Please! Like you haven't been to enough high school parties.' I paused, the realization of what might have happened to me, settling in a little. 'Thank you.'

'You are so welcome,' he said, genuinely, as he jumped off the bed. 'Now, come on, its way past nine. Can I drive you home?'

I nodded, suppressing a yawn. 'Sounds good.'

* * *

As we walked through Richie's room, and into the kitchen, Dick looked at both of us interestedly as we walked to the front door.

'Not what it looks like,' I said impulsively.

Dick looked like he had a smirk! That's right, a smirk! He put his hands up, in surrender. 'Not judging, I totally swear.'

'I'm just dropping Lila home. I promise I'll be back before curfew,' joked Richie, as he blew Dick a kiss.

When we were cruising down familiar streets in Richie's top-of-the-line jeep, I asked, 'what would have happened to me, if you hadn't "saved me"?'

He released a breath, and turned to me for a second, before turning his attentions back to the road. 'I don't even want to think about it. I'm just glad I got there before anyone else. Everyone likes you, Lila. No one wants to see you get hurt.'

It felt good, to be told those words. 'Do you think I was drugged, or…?'

Richie nodded. 'Either that or someone knocked you over the head.' I instinctively felt my skull. 'I'm pretty sure it was a date-rape drug. I'm just…you know,' he cut off.

The rest of the ride was silent. I got a surprise when Richie said that he'd walk me to my door.

Before I even got to the porch, my mother was standing on the doorstep with her arms crossed.

'My rule?' she asked loudly, and sternly.

I sighed. 'Damnit!' I said under my breath. Richie looked at me confusedly.

'My rule?' she tried once again, now adding a foot tap to her ritual.

'I'm sorry I didn't call every hour on the hour. I…I fell asleep,' I said. Mom stomped towards me angrily.

'Do you really expect me to believe that you fell asleep at _midnight_? You do know that I am a certified PI, right?'

Richie looked between us. Mom suddenly looked at him; the expression on her face changing.

'Dick?' she asked.

'Actually, I prefer Richie,' he said with a smile. Mom's expression changed again, to one of confusion.

'Of course not,' I could hear her mutter, before she raised her voice again, 'So, what's the story?'

'I know what you're thinking. And for your information, my chastity belt is still locked up tight…' Richie chuckled at my statement.

'Thank god,' she said, as she spared a disapproving look at Richie.

'Richie brought me home,' I said.

'I thought you were going to give me a call when you were ready to be picked up this morning?'

'Well…' I started.

'I was heading in this direction anyway,' said Richie quickly. 'And I'd better go…I'll see you later?' I nodded. 'Keep safe.'

I waved as he left.

'God, that boy looks so much like his dad it's scary,' she said, as she watched him go.

'You know Dick?' I asked, turning around; although I already knew the answer.

Mom shrugged. 'I knew him ages ago…we went to the same high school, college. Associated with the same people from time to time. How is Dick these days anyway?'

'He's like…a teenager trapped in an older person's body,' I said.

Mom laughed. 'He hasn't changed, then.' She paused, and turned to me slowly. 'What's the story with you and Richie?'

'No story there. We're friends. He helped me out last night. Richie's cool.'

'And older than you.'

'Yeah, and? Am I not allowed to have a friend who's older?'

Mom shook her head, 'you can be friends with whoever you want… just no serial killers, okay?'

'Damnit! I'll have to tell Johnny that I can't be friends with him anymore,' I said sarcastically. Mom stopped in her tracks.

'Who's Johnny?'

'I was kidding!'

* * *

'Hi, Lila, um…it's me, Alex. Look, I was just wondering if you got home last night okay. I lost track of you after…you know. Look, I want to talk, so give me a call.'

'Message two.'

'Hey Lila! Where are you? Indiana said you passed out? What's up with that? Anyway, you can still come back to mine, if you want to…If I can track you down,' came Cassie's voice.

'Message three.'

'What happened to every hour on the hour? You know the rule, Lila,' I rolled my eyes. 'One of the only rules I have when you go to parties, along with no drinking, no smoking, no drugs and no sex. It has now been _three_ hours since your last phone call. You will be grounded for a week if I don't get an explanation from you soon, missy.'

'End of messages.' I pressed the five. 'Messages deleted.'

Okay, so I was grounded. I wasn't even in my mother's house and I was grounded. This sucked. Big time.

I heard a loud knock at the window and was almost scared to death.

I turned around, and saw Taylor grinning at me on the other side. I opened the window, and she climbed in.

'What are you doing here?' I whispered frantically, afraid of being heard.

'Are you not answering your phone now, or…?'

'I'm grounded,' I said simply.

'Why?' Taylor asked, confused.

I sighed. 'I went to Alex's party last night.'

She looked at me incredulously, like she couldn't believe it. 'You went to Alex Echolls party and you didn't tell me?'

Okay, so I hadn't told Taylor. I didn't want the PCHers crashing Alex's party, like they had crashed Cassie's. And I didn't want to be the one responsible for Alex's house getting trashed either.

'It was a spur of the moment thing…I swear,' I lied.

'Okay, so what happened that resulted in your grounding?' she asked, half impressed.

'Just my mom being strict… I didn't call her every hour,' I said.

'I feel your pain! My parents are totally strict,' she said. 'So, I tried to call you last night…'

'No message,' I said, looking down at my phone.

'No, I needed to talk to you in person,' said Taylor. 'Mac is coming back from Japan!'

'And why do you need to tell me that in person?' I asked.

'Because it's exciting!' said Taylor, as she sat on the bed. 'I _love_ Mac. She's the coolest! You'll love her too. I'll get her to hook us up with some of those new IWatches.'

'IWatch?' I asked confusedly.

'They play music out of your watch! Don't tell me you haven't heard of them?' I shook my head. 'Well, it doesn't matter, because you're getting one!'

'Is that all?'

'Yeah, that's about it…' said Taylor. 'Sorry, I was just really excited!'

We were interrupted by Pop as he opened the door.

'Lila, your mom…' he stopped talking when he noticed that there was an extra body in the room. He looked at me disapprovingly. I just shrugged.

'Hello Taylor,' he said.

'Mr Mars,' she said embarrassed.

'Just make sure you close the window all the way when you leave and I won't tell your mother. Ten more minutes, max,' he said, as he closed the door. I smiled.

'Your grandpa's cool,' said Taylor.

'Um…excuse me, I'm not the one who has a baseball hall-of-famer as a grandad,' I said.

Taylor shook her head. 'PI grandad outweighs baseball grandad any day. I'll see you tomorrow?' she asked, as she climbed out of the window.

'Okay. Bye.'

* * *

'Good morning,' I said brightly, as I swung my bag onto the desk.

'How are you?' asked JD, less than enthusiastically, I noticed.

'Something wrong?' I asked.

'No. Nothing at all,' he said. I couldn't help but feel a little unconvinced.

'I didn't catch you at Alex's.'

'I was…preoccupied,' he said. 'Did you have a good time?'

I scratched my neck nervously. 'I…don't actually remember a lot of it,' I laughed nervously.

He turned to me sharply. 'What do you mean?'

'I was just tired, that's all.'

'Oh.'

'So, did you have a good weekend?' I asked.

He shrugged. 'Could have been better,' he said quietly.

'What's up?' I asked, sensing that there was something wrong. He finally turned and looked at me in the eye.

'Nothing.'

'Why am I not buying that?'

He sighed, 'I have no idea,' he said, before getting up and walking away.

'JD! JD?' I tried to call after him, but he didn't answer.

* * *

'Geez, Mars, I'm surprised you showed your face today, after you passed out on the Echolls' living room floor,' said Michelle as she passed me. I stopped her from walking any further.

'You know I was drugged, right, Michelle?' I asked, as I gripped her arm.

'Let go of me,' she hissed.

'Oh my god! Let go of her! You're hurting her!' said Stacey.

I loosened my grip. 'Did you have anything to do with that?'

A look of faux innocence crossed her face. 'Moi? I would never do anything like that. How dare you suspect me of such a thing!'

'Are you serious? I don't know many people here, yet alone many people that dislike me; but you're one of them.'

'You have no proof that I did it,' said Michelle. 'I will not stand here and be accused.'

'What's going on here?' Andreas asked, as he passed through. Michelle looked scared of him. 'Let's take off,' he said to me, and I followed him down the hall. I could hear Michelle and Stacey talking as I walked.

'Did you _see_ that?'

'Yes. She's psycho. Someone should lock her up.'

I laughed to myself, and Andreas looked at me.

'What's so funny?'

'Nothing…just those girls…they really have no clue, do they?'

He shook his head. 'I wouldn't know. I'll see you around, blue.'

I gave him a little wave as he walked away. Andreas had taken to calling me "blue" lately, because of the colour of my eyes.

* * *

'My _brother? _Have you completely lost your mind, Mars?' Cassie asked later, as we were in line for the cafeteria.

'Nothing happened, I swear,' I said immediately. She grinned.

'No, I know… I just wanted to see your reaction,' she giggled. 'Oh!' she said, as if just remembering something. 'My Aunt Mac's coming back from Japan!' she said excitedly.

'I've heard,' I said.

'Oh,' Cassie looked confused. 'Taylor?'

'Yep,' I paused, seeing the look on her face, 'you guys should talk…or at least try.'

'I know…I want to, but it's just not that easy, you know… "Hey Taylor, sorry about being such a bitch, lets be best friends again," it's not that easy.'

I rubbed her shoulder. 'It's probably not going to be easy,' I said, as I walked away, formulating some sort of plan in my head.

* * *

It was Tuesday afternoon, after school. Pop was at the office, doing some business, and mom and I were at home, watching TV, both equally as bored as the other.

'Can't we go shopping or something?' I asked boredly, as she flicked channels.

'Nope. You're grounded. Remember?' She said. I groaned. 'Don't you have homework to do or something?'

'Negative,' I replied. 'Can we at least go down to the beach? It's a nice day.'

'Grounded.'

'But…but…'

'Grounded,' she repeated.

'But… You missed my birthday!' I said, looking at my mom's guilty look on her face. 'Yeah, you missed your only daughter's sixteenth birthday.'

'Fine! We'll go down to the beach! But only for a while, okay?'

Battle won.

Half an hour later, I was setting up the towels on the beach whilst mom tried to put up a big umbrella.

'See, aren't you glad we came? It's nice and warm,' I stated, as mom lowered herself, so that she was lying on the towel, sunbaking in her red bikini.

'You're right. It is nice,' she stated.

'Well, I'm going in for a swim, then,' I said. She just mumbled.

* * *

I had been out in the water for about fifteen minutes before I swear that I could hear someone call my name. I looked around for the source of the voice, after another yell, I could see someone (the voice) coming towards me; surfboard in hand.

As they got closer, I could see that it was Alex… yeah; this shouldn't be weird at all.

'Hey, Lila,' he said, when he was close.

'Alex, what's going on?' I asked.

'I heard that the waves were breaking down here,' he said.

'Where's Richie?' I asked.

'College.'

'Oh.'

'He only comes back home on weekends,' Alex explained. I nodded.

'Um, well, it's cold. I'll just grab my towel,' I said, as I motioned over to the umbrella, and my mom.

'Sure,' he said, as he started to walk with me. 'Look,' he rubbed the back of his neck. 'I actually wanted to talk to you… did you get my message?'

'Yeah, I got it,' I said. 'sorry I couldn't call you back,' I rolled my eyes. 'I'm grounded.'

'That sucks. Whoa! Who's that?' he asked, when he saw mom lying on the towels.

I smacked him lightly on the arm, 'that's my mom! And I've already been told that she's a "MILF" so don't even start with that,' I warned.

'Okay, okay, sure,' he said. We kept walking towards my mom. 'Anyway… I really wanted to talk to you about…'

'Hey, Alex, you about ready to go?' Logan asked as he jogged towards us.

'Just a second,' said Alex impatiently.

Logan stood next to us. I picked up my towel and wrapped it around myself.

'Hey, Lila, how are you?' he asked with a smile. His attention was temporarily distracted as he looked over to the sleeping body that was my mom. I could swear that I heard an intake of breath on his behalf.

All of a sudden, I had no interest in what Alex was saying; this could well be interaction between my mother and possible father.

'I'm well, thanks, Mr Echolls,' I said, politely, in reply to his question.

He chuckled. 'Call me Logan,' he said.

My mother's head jerked up. 'Logan?'

Logan did a double take. He looked confused for a second.

'Veronica?'

* * *

**A/N I know, cliffhanger! Sorry, couldn't resist! So, what do you think will be the reaction? A yelling match? A bittersweet reunion? Complete ignorance?**

**All I can say is: Whoa! You guys certainly had a very strong opinion on the Lila getting a spiked drink issue (it was never in my plan for her to get raped, by the way.) Anyway, thanks for the feedback. Keep reviewing! Even if it's people telling me that "that is so not cool," and "I hate you right now." Actually, that wasn't the best read, but okay… I still appreciate hearing anything that you have to say. **

**The quick update was, once again, a total fluke. I think the record of reviews brought it on (hint, hint.)**

**Reviews equal more story, so you know what to do!**

**Peace.**


	10. Get Busy Living, Or Get Busy Dying

**A/N All right, sorry for the wait this time guys, school has been pretty full-blown at the moment. But, on the bright side, I start holidays next week ;)**

**This one's for FreezeDryedGorgeous – for talking pointless Veronica Mars with me. Lol. (And also for her idea, which I've included later on) Let's just say those cupcakes that JD's mom made definitely had butterflies on them!**

* * *

'I just don't get it; shouldn't…I don't know,' I said exasperated as I looked back at Alex, who was sitting on the bed.

'My opinion?' he asked, I looked at him interestedly, urging him silently to continue, 'I honestly don't think you have anything to worry about. That wasn't a reunion of a woman who's tried to cover up a secret love child, from her lover.'

'Ok. One; stop with all the 'lover' talk. That's my mom…and your dad…just. Eww. Two; I'm pretty sure it isn't a "secret love child" thing in the first place,' I said, as I started to walk around his room again, pacing.

'Lila. Chill,' he said, as he got up from the bed and placed his hands on my shoulders, stopping me. 'Okay, seriously, what were you expecting? A full on argument on the beach?' he asked with a grin. I didn't smile. I had half expected my mother to _start _the argument. It wouldn't have surprised me if she had.

'Okay; maybe not. But we couldn't hear what they were saying when we went back to the car to put your surf board back; what do you think happened then?'

He sighed. 'I have no idea. But they both returned just fine. They must not have been too shaken.'

'Yeah, but it's still weird, right?' I asked, as I started to bite my nails and looked at him anxiously.

Alex grabbed my wrist and took it away from my mouth. 'I think you're making it into a way bigger deal than it really is, Lila,' he said.

I nodded my head slowly; although I didn't really believe his words. How would he know how it felt? He wouldn't.

'Yeah, you're right,' I said. 'I probably should be going. I'm still technically "grounded"' I said. He grinned at me and I gave him a small smile back as I closed his bedroom door behind me.

I was making my way to the front door when I spotted Logan in the kitchen. I tried to walk faster, but his voice stopped me.

'I thought that was Lilly's necklace,' he said, as he motioned towards it. My fingers automatically enclosed around the charm. 'I knew it the moment I laid eyes on it.'

I gave him a small, uncomfortable smile, as he walked closer towards me. 'I should have figured out sooner that you were Veronica's daughter. But, silly me, forgot to piece the puzzle together,' he sighed with a small grin still playing on his lips.

I didn't quite know what to say. I was in shock. 'Well, tell your mom I said hi,' he said.

'Will do,' I said brightly. 'I'd better get home. I'm still grounded.'

'What for?' Logan asked curiously.

'My mom has this rule when I have to call her every hour while I'm at a party. But…I kind of forgot, so, subsequently, I'm grounded.' Logan simply laughed at this statement. I gave him a questioning look.

'I always knew your mom was bossy…but that just takes it to the next level.'

'I know,' I said. 'Bye,' he waved as I let myself out.

* * *

So, why am I violating my mother's strict rules of "grounding"? It's simple, really. I need answers. I needed to talk to someone about it; and since Alex was the only other person who witnessed my mother and her old flame, Logan Echolls' little reunion on the beach the other day; he was it.

The next day at school I hadn't seen him at all; Cassie told me that he went on a trip to Florida to see his Uncle and that he wouldn't be back for a couple of days. As soon as Cassie had told me (today) that he was back home; just not at school, I had skipped last period (which was only study hall, anyway) to go to the Echolls residence myself.

So, this is what had gone down at the beach the other day (the cliff notes): my mother and Logan had seen each other; my mother practically jumped up, hugging him. They had ended the hug suddenly and awkwardly, (I noted it) Logan had told Alex to meet him back at the car, and Alex had practically dragged me along with him. Boys can be so dumb sometimes; honestly! He had left them alone, without me. I had missed some vital plot points.

So, those were the things that I picked up. My mom had met me back in the parking lot with Logan carrying the majority of our beach things after about five, maybe ten minutes. They had smiled and waved to each other as they went their separate ways; whilst Alex and I had exchanged extremely confused looks.

That was it; no yelling, no fighting, nothing. And most importantly, this little meeting had planted a huge seed; no make that a bulb of doubt in my mind that Logan Echolls was really my father. But if Logan Echolls wasn't my father, than who was?

* * *

School had been fine for the past two days; well, fine apart from the fact that JD, my best friend JD (So, yeah, I had come to the realization that he was my best friend) wasn't talking to me anymore. I had barely seen him, and I got the feeling that that wasn't just coincidence. He was ignoring me.

So when I saw him at school the day after my little intervention with Alex, I came from his side (as to not be seen coming) and pushed him with all my might into the nearest bathroom.

'Woah, settle down,' he said, as he crashed into the door. I scouted around. No one was here. Excellent. 'Lila?' he asked, when he realized that it was me.

I smiled at him. 'JD.'

He looked around confusedly. 'Um…what's all this?'

'This,' I said, as I looked around as well. 'This is a crappy paintjob, graffiti that reads, quote "Brooke is a bitch," and a "caution slippery when wet" sign.'

I could see him suppress a grin, 'No. I mean what is this?'

I sighed. 'Do I really have to spell it out? You're a smart guy,' I said, he continued to look at me like I was crazy. Perhaps I was. 'You've been ignoring me,' I stated simply.

'Come on, what?' he asked, as he rubbed the back of his neck.

'Signs of when someone is lying, one; they don't make eye contact. Two; they rub the back of their neck,' I said. His hand flew to his side. 'You forget that I was brought up by and ex-sheriff and not one, but two certified private eye's.'

'Man, you really make my life sound boring, don't you,' he joked. I smiled a little.

'What's going on, JD?' I asked seriously.

He shook his head. 'Nothing.'

'No, seriously. It can't be. Please tell me,' I urged.

'I saw you at Cassie's party with Richie Casablancas!' he said loudly, with his hands in the air.

The room was silent for a few moments.

'Richie's just a friend. A good friend. And anyway, I thought that you said you didn't go to Cassie's,' I said.

He looked down at the floor. 'I lied.'

'Why?'

'Because I'm an idiot…and I didn't think that I would be wanted at the 09er party, I saw you there, and I left because I thought that you were busy with your other friends and I don't really fit in there,' he said quietly.

'I'm sure…' I started, but he cut me off.

'No, trust me. If you're going to say that I could be friends with them; you're wrong.'

I swallowed. I honestly didn't understand why JD didn't think that he could be friends with the 09ers; Taylor, Alex, Cassie and Richie were all cool people. I also didn't know why JD had been ignoring me for the past few days because of something as small as that.

'Okay. But you still owe me a night at the movies, right, D'Amato?' I joked. He grinned at me.

'It's a date,' he said. I looked at him sharply. 'I meant not a date, but like…' he looked embarrassed and flushed. 'I didn't mean it like that.'

I simply smirked as I exited the bathroom. 'I'm late for Maths again. I'll see you later, JD. Movies, Saturday night?'

He smiled and nodded. 'You're not bailing on me again, Mars.'

'Wouldn't dream of it.'

* * *

**VERONICA**

I had been daring myself not to look up his details ever since he had issued the challenge, that day on the beach.

'Give me a call sometime…or drop in. I'm sure you'll be able to procure my address from somewhere, using those super-sleuthing skills,' he said with a grin. I had laughed. He shrugged. 'But, if you've lost the magic touch; I'm in the book.'

'And what makes you think that I've "lost the touch"?' I asked.

'You in your old age,' he said casually. I shoved him on the arm, and it was suddenly like I hadn't seen him for more than…well, actually, I'd lost track of the amount of time we hadn't seen each other. 'Hey! Take it easy. I was kidding!'

He was the same. He hardly looked older than he had years ago. Except he was; I could spot the laugh lines around his mouth and eyes.

The boy had to be his. Alex, I think his name was. That was a nice name, I guessed. He looked just like Logan had at that age, sans the horrible blond tips. He had that Echolls smirk about him, you could just tell.

We were talking like we hadn't spent years apart. Like it was still college and Dick was about to walk onto the sand and announce that, 'dudes, major party at the Pi Sig house tonight. Bring the booze.' But it wasn't. Our own children were a testament of that.

So, I must have known that I would run into some of my old friends down here sooner or later…but if I was expecting any of them, Logan wasn't at the top of my list. Shouldn't he have moved further down the coast to where the bigger waves beckoned? I had half expected him to.

It was going to be awkward. Meeting most of my friends again would be. I hadn't left them on the nicest of notes. But when I saw Logan, I was genuinely happy to see him. How I ended up hugging him, I have no idea. It had happened so fast.

We both realised at the same time that the skin-to-skin contact (me, in my bikini and a shirtless Logan) both kind of sent a spark between us, and also awkwardness.

He had rubbed the back of his neck and given me a lazy grin. 'It's good to see you, Ronnie.'

I didn't even bother to correct him, as I just grinned.

His son was the one who spoke next, 'I'm going to take the board in. Keys?' Logan tossed him the keys. 'Lila?' he asked, as he grabbed her arm. As soon as the kids were out of the way he spoke.

'Lila's your daughter?'

'Guilty. And your son…?'

'Alex. Yeah, my son.'

'Sorry about the hug. I hope I didn't make the missus jealous or anything,' I joked.

'She doesn't mind,' he said, as he pointed towards a woman on the beach, who looked as if she was about twenty. She was listening intently to her music as she jogged along the beach. For some reason, I could just feel my stomach sink a couple of inches further.

'Oh.' She was blond and hot, and fit and young.

He suddenly started to laugh, noticing the look on my face. He placed a hand on my shoulder. 'I'm kidding, Veronica.'

'Oh! Right…And here I was just about to make a remark about your uncanny ability to attract girl's half your age, Echolls,' I said quickly.

'So, where's hubby?' he said, looking around expectantly.

I looked at him amused. 'Do you not know me? I'm Veronica Mars. What is Veronica Mars' number one rule?'

'That she likes to refer to herself as the third person at all times?'

I hit him lightly on the arm again. 'Guess again.'

'That's right! Veronica Mars is never getting married,' Logan said.

'Bingo! You win a prize!' I said brightly, as I clapped my hands together. He chuckled.

I had missed him. There was no denying it. I had missed everyone. I just hoped that everyone was half as nice to me as Logan had been when I saw them again; although, I wasn't expecting it at all.

'Honey, what are you doing?' Asked my dad as he walked out of his office into the main Mars Investigations building. I quickly clicked out of the window on the screen that held all of Logan's personal information.

'Nothing,' I smiled.

'I have to say; it's good to see you back in that chair. Now bring me my coffee,' he joked. I grinned.

'It feels good to be back,' I said quietly.

* * *

**LOGAN**

'She's back,' I said, as I walked into my own kitchen. I had a suspicion that Dick might be there. I was not disappointed, as he walked out from the fridge, about to drink straight from the orange juice container.

'Who's back?'

'Ronnie. And get a glass!' I said, as I took a seat on a stool at the bench, setting my keys down.

Dick's eyes widened. 'Ronnie's back?' he asked incredulously.

'No, I made it up,' I said sarcastically. 'Yeah, she's back,' I said quietly.

'Dude! Well, tell me what happened.'

'Nothing,' I said, averting my attention to the backyard, where I could see the gardeners doing their weekly routine.

Dick looked at me like I wasn't telling him everything. 'Dude!' he said impatiently.

'Nothing,' I repeated.

'Yeah, that's likely,' Dick mumbled, as he walked towards the front door. 'Later.'

* * *

**LILA**

So, I had gotten out of grounding temporarily, once I had convinced my mother that I should be allowed out for tonight, because I was going out with JD, as I replacement for the time when I had to bail on him because of her. Guilt had overcome her once again as she accepted.

'Okay, Lila, have fun on your date!' said mom, as I walked out the front door, like she expected me to argue, for the millionth time that 'It isn't a date!'

Stop off one was to JD's house. Apparently his mother had insisted that we go to his house for dinner. And, no, I wasn't worried (or that was, at least what I kept telling myself.)

I rang the doorbell.

JD answered the door. 'Hello.' He gave a low whistle. 'You're looking quite sharp tonight, Lila. If I don't say so myself,' he said, as he took in my dress. I gave him a playful spin.

He laughed. 'Not too shabby yourself,' I commented. His chest swelled jokingly.

'Come in. My parents are waiting to meet you, of course,' he said with a look of annoyance. I stepped into the house and started to walk down the hall.

I noticed a drum kit in a room off from the hall and I stopped.

'Yours?' I asked. He laughed and shook his head.

'My dad's.'

'Wow. Your dad is cooler than you!' I joked.

He led me into the kitchen with a laugh.

'You must be Lila,' said a woman before she enveloped me in a hug.

'Ah…yeah, that's me,' I said uncomfortably. She broke loose and allowed me to breathe.

'Of course Jack hardly stops talking about you,' she said brightly. I turned to my left and noticed that JD was a little flushed.

'She's lying,' he said automatically.

'Pfft. Dream on,' said a man as he walked through the kitchen. 'You're Veronica's daughter, right?'

'Yeah, I am…how did you know that?'

'There can't be that many Mars' in Neptune,' he said with a shrug.

'Veronica! How is she these days? I miss her,' said JD's mom.

'Yeah, she's okay,' I said. How did JD's mom know my mom?

'Lila, these are my parents,' JD said sheepishly.

'Nice to meet you, Mr and Mrs D'Amato,' I said politely.

'Please! I won't have any of this "Mr and Mrs D'Amato" it's Gia and Leo from now on, sweetie,' said Mrs D'Amato (or Gia now.)

'Well, dinner's ready,' said Leo.

'Take a seat, Lila,' said Gia. I took a seat at the table after JD had.

Dinner wasn't quite as awkward as I thought it was. JD's parents were nice enough, complete opposites, which kind of confused me, but they fit together nicely as a family.

'Funny story actually, your mom, Veronica. She kind of set us up,' said Gia, as she smiled at Leo across the table. I was intrigued.

'Yeah, if you look at it that way…' said Leo, unconvinced.

'No, she did!' Gia insisted.

JD looked at them disapprovingly. 'What did Lila's mom have anything to do with you stalking mom?' he asked his father jokingly. He had obviously been told the story before. Stalking? Now I was interested.

'It wasn't stalking, it was a job,' said Leo.

'Keep telling yourself that, dad,' said JD.

'It was! Leo was hired to keep an eye on me; at first I thought that it was some weird guy from Pan High…' Gia started as she looked at me particularly whilst telling the tale. 'But then Veronica discovered that it was really Leo. I was relieved, of course, well, I wasn't happy that some random was following me; but it was better than some dweeb from Pan.'

I laughed. 'So, one night, after I found out, I saw Leo parked across the street, and I brought him some coffee,' said Gia.

'And…let me guess, "The rest is history"?' JD asked, as if he had been told the tale a million times. He probably had. I thought that it was cute though. Gia rolled her eyes at her son. 'Hey! If it wasn't like that then you wouldn't be here, my son.'

Leo laughed. 'Can I take your plate?' he asked, from behind me. I let him. 'So, what movie are you two going to see?'

'Um…' JD looked at me.

'A chick flick. Definitely!' I joked. JD scowled at me and I laughed.

'We'll see when we get there,' he said indecisively. 'And speaking of movies, we'd better get going,' he said, as he stood up from the table, grabbing his jacket that was hung over the chair.

I followed his lead and got up to leave as well. 'Well it was very nice to meet you, Lila,' said Gia.

'Yeah, you too,' I said. 'Goodnight.'

'You take good care of her, Jack. If anything happens you'll have to face the wrath of both Keith and Veronica, and I can't even begin to imagine the both of them combined,' said Leo.

'Will do. Later.' Said JD, as he gave his parents a wave, and pushed my shoulders towards the door.

'Ease up, Turbs,' I said. 'The movie only starts at nine.'

'Yeah, but do you know just how long it takes to get tickets and popcorn and ice-cream?' he asked with a grin.

* * *

**A/N So I'm going to leave it there for now. It's a short one, but I hope it suppresses everyone for a little while. Can you see the horns poking out the top of my head? Again, sorry for the sllllooooowwww update. School + work are two things that both suck, and the two combined…well….I won't even get started.**

**Reviews equal more story, so you know what to do. And I've also realized that you guys are just awesome (people who review) just awesome! Record reviews yet again!**

**So, any predictions for what's going to happen next? Thoughts on this chapter. (I heart long reviews, just letting you know.) I'd also like to know who your favourite original character is? Taylor, Richie, Alex, Cassie, JD, Michelle, Andreas, Jonas??**

**You guys rule. Just completely rule. lol.  
**

**Peace.**


	11. Moving Pictures

When we arrived at the cinemas; JD directed us straight to the movie board. He gave me a small nudge as we looked at the choice of screenings.

'Come on, Mars. Ladies choice,' he said with a grin.

'Are you sure you feel safe using those words, JD? I mean, you could be in for one long, sappy chick flick if you're not careful,' I joked.

Half an hour later; we were walking into the cinema with popcorn, beverages and other edible things to keep us occupied.

'Are you sure you don't want me to pay for half of this stuff?' I asked.

'No! I already told you; it's part of my birthday present to you, and anyway, it's my parent's money. They gave me a whole wad of cash for this "date" as they called it. You should have heard my mom…' he said. I giggled; I could imagine what his mom would have had to say.

Suddenly, the popcorn that I was holding went falling to the floor as someone knocked into me.

'Oops,' said Michelle cruelly. Both JD and I glared at her. 'Oh my gosh! You guys aren't on a date, are you? I've totally ruined it now, haven't I?'

Michelle's friend Indiana began to pick the popcorn up. 'What are you doing?' Michelle hissed at her.

'Don't worry about it,' I said to her, ignoring Michelle.

'What was that for?' JD asked. 'What exactly did Lila do to you?'

'Oh! That's so cute! You wanting to stick up for Lila here. But I'm sure you could do much better, Jack.'

'It's JD,' he stated, his jaw set. I grabbed him by the elbow.

'Come on, let's get seats,' I said softly to him as we walked away.

He opened his mouth to speak as we walked up the steps, but I cut him off. 'I know; she's a bitch…and you thought Cassie was bad! She's got nothing on Michelle,' I joked, trying to lighten the mood. 'Let's just have a good night, okay?'

He smiled and nodded his head.

When we were about halfway through the movie; I turned to JD, realizing that there was something that I needed to tell him. The movie was about the ties between a woman and her family, in particular, her father. I had been squirming uncomfortably in my chair all night; and JD had noticed it. He had even asked me if I was all right a couple of times.

'Hey, can I tell you something?' I asked. He turned to me immediately, concern masking his face. 'Of course.'

I chucked a little at the look on his face. 'Chill, it's not anything life-changing!' I said. I could hear him give a fake sigh of relief and I nudged him a little.

'You know that day when you found that list of names, and it had your dad's name on it?' I asked.

'Yeah.' He was interested now.

'I'm trying to find out who my real father is,' I said. 'The list was a list of the names of all of my mom's old friends and boyfriends.'

There was a pause for a moment, 'your mom and my…?'

'Your dad, yep, they dated. And don't be shocked; I've recently discovered that pretty much all of my friend's parents have some tie with my mother.'

'So…is my dad?' JD looked uncertain, and a little bit scared to a degree. I understood what he wanted to ask.

'Oh! No! No, I don't think your dad is even in contention of…you know,' I shrugged. Eww, just eww. 'They dated for like, five seconds, from what my Pop tells me.'

He nodded his head slowly. 'So, do you know who he is then?'

I shook my head. 'No idea. Until recently, I thought that it was Logan Echolls. It still might be, but…'

JD cut me off, 'Alex's dad?'

'That's the one.'

'So you two could be brother and sister?'

'Theoretically. But, if you look at it that way; I still have no idea who my real dad is; so anyone could be my brother or sister,' I paused, 'In a sad, cruel twist, Michelle might even be my real sister,' I joked.

JD let out a noise between a sigh and a laugh.

When the movie was finished, JD dropped me off at the porch outside our apartment. He even insisted that he walk me to the door.

'I'm a big girl, JD, I'm pretty sure I can walk myself,' I joked.

'But aren't you scared of the boogie monster?'

'Oh! You're right. I almost forgot about him. Well, it's just lucky that you were here.'

'I had fun tonight,' JD said, as he buried his hands in his jacket pockets. It was cold outside.

'Me too. We should do it again sometime,' I said.

'We definitely will,' he agreed. He paused for a couple of seconds. 'I don't know what is it, but I always seem to have fun when you're around,' he said with a grin. I returned it.

'Yeah, me too,' I replied.

I can't remember what happened next, or who initiated it, but the next thing I knew was that we were moving in closer, and his mouth was on my own and we were kissing passionately.

The kiss ended abruptly and awkwardly.

'I…ah…have to go,' JD stuttered, as he walked away.

'Uh…yeah,' I said. I think that we were both a bit lost for words. 'See ya.'

'Bye,' he said, before he was gone.

I stood on the porch for a few more moments before I opened the front door, sighing massively. I spotted my mother, on the couch watching TV. She gave me a small smile as I walked in. 'So how did your "non date" go?'

I didn't know what to say. As much as I had told everyone that it wasn't a date; the evening had turned out much like a date. Dinner, movie, _kiss_. Check your dictionary, because I'm pretty sure that qualifies as a date.

I crossed to the fridge and took out a bottle of water, taking a sip. 'Fine,' I said half-heartedly. 'You didn't have to wait up for me, you know?'

'No, I know. But, in case you've forgotten, I kind of live on the couch now that my daughter has stolen my bedroom,' she joked.

'Speaking of the devil…I'm going to bed.'

'Okay…night sweetie.'

'Night.'

Bed? Check. Sleep? Probably not. Sleep, when you're thinking about a kiss that you just shared with your best friend, and thinking about the feelings that you may, or may not have for him, almost impossible. What was this? And what was going to happen now?

* * *

**VERONICA**

It was Sunday morning. He would be home now, right? He wouldn't be busy? A small part of me hoped that he was though. A very small part of me hoped that he wouldn't be home.

Wait. You're Veronica Mars. You're not scared or anxious. Yeah, but I'm also not desperate, or at least, I don't appear to be. Will Logan think I'm desperate, dropping by to see him? Maybe I should have called first.

I was just about at his house, before I turned around and started to walk back to the car. I stopped walking when I saw a very familiar head in the yard next door to Logan's house.

'Dick?' I asked. The person turned around and walked towards me.

Perhaps I should just stop yelling out people's names anymore, because that wasn't Dick. That was Richie, his son, if I had remembered correctly. I had embarrassed myself once again.

'I prefer Richie,' he chuckled. 'Wait, you're Lila's mom, right?'

'Yeah,' I said.

'Hey, Richie, where's the-?' came a voice from above us. Both Richie and I looked up at the source of the voice. Now _that_ was someone that I definitely recognized, and it seems as if he recognized me too as he stopped mid-sentence and said, 'Ronnie?'

Before I could give him an answer, he was gone from the balcony. I gave his son a questioning look. 'I never could figure him out,' I joked.

The front door opened within the next few seconds, and Dick came striding out towards us, opening his arms out wide.

'Ronnie, it's good to see you again,' he said, as he enveloped me in a hug.

'Um…yeah…it's good to see you too,' I mumbled. Since when had Dick cared? We hadn't even been good friends. We hadn't even been friends. Dick stepped back and looked down at me. 'Wow! You look really good.'

'You don't look too bad yourself,' I commented, being polite.

'So what are you doing here? Back in Neptune?' He asked.

'I came for my daughter's birthday,' I said. A confused look came over Dick's face.

'I didn't know you had a daughter,' he stated.

'Lila,' Richie supplied.

His eyes widened. 'Really? I mean…she looks like you, but…'

'Except taller, with brown hair and less pesky?' I asked. Dick nodded, temporarily stunned. 'I get that all the time.'

'Well, it's really good to see you. Maybe we could get a coffee sometime?' Dick asked.

I gave a non-committal nod. Was I in an alternate universe, or had Dick actually matured? I mean, no jokes or quips about Lila, no questions whatsoever about her father? Dick Casablancas, have we met?

'I'd better be going,' I said, as I motioned towards where my car was sitting close by. Dick waved goodbye, as his son continued to look at him weirdly.

Another question; had I got the wrong address or were Dick and Logan living next door to each other? Perhaps they were living in the same house, for old times sake. It was comforting to know that they had finally moved out of the Grand at least.

* * *

**LILA**

I was awoken by my Sunday-morning sleep-in by the shrill ring tone of my cell phone.

'Hello?' I answered sleepily.

'Lila, it's Cassie.'

'Cassie. Tell me you have a good reason for waking me up?'

I could hear her giggling on the other end. 'I was just calling to see how your date with Jack went,' she said. I sat up in bed.

'Fine...Wait, how do you know about that?' I asked. I could hear her sigh.

'Michelle practically rang me right after she saw you guys to spread the news.'

'Great! Now practically the whole student body will know!' I said sarcastically.

'Don't worry about it. Nobody thinks its even that big a deal,' she said. My mood got better, but only marginally.

'Hey, who're you talking to?' I heard a soft voice on the other end, it sounded like Richie in the background.

'None of your business, _Richard_,' I heard Cassie say.

'Seriously, _Cassidy,_ who is it?'

I heard her audible sigh. 'It's Lila, happy now?'

'Give me the phone,' he said sternly. I heard the phone being moved around amidst Cassie's protests.

'Hey, Lila, it's Richie,' he said.

'Yeah, it was a bit obvious,' I replied.

'Hey, you didn't tell me your mom was the infamous "Ronnie"' he said. I could hear Cassie in the background gasp and ask, 'what?' interestedly.

'"Ronnie"? What are you talking about?'

'She was just around here. Your mom is Ronnie,' he stated.

'Put me on speaker,' said Cassie in the background. Richie must have complied, because the next moment I could hear Cassie loud and clear.

'Dad and Logan have these huge conversations about "Ronnie" they talk about her like she was some kind of hero. All of the cool things that she did…'

'Yeah, and today my dad saw your mom and he was calling her "Ronnie." It _has_ to be her,' said Richie, cutting Cassie off.

'What? I don't understand; my mom hates being called "Ronnie" in the first place. Are you…are you sure?' I asked.

'Positive,' said Richie soundly.

So my mom was some kind of legend in the Echolls/Casablancas households? What was that all about? Okay, so I was intrigued.

'Hey, can I meet you guys at your place later on?' I asked. I was interested to hear some of these tales for myself.

'Sure,' said Richie.

* * *

**MEANWHILE, AT THE ECHOLLS HOUSE**

Mac stood at the front door; she had been knocking for almost five minutes, before she decided to just go in.

'Hello? Hello? Does no one at all want to greet me? Obviously nobody _wants_ their awesome presents that I brought back,' she said to the empty house.

'Mac!' Said Logan, as he walked down the stairs and saw her. He hugged her.

'I knew you'd come at the mention of presents,' she joked.

'I thought you weren't getting here 'til next week.'

'I decided to surprise everyone…but it looks like I'm the one who's surprised. Where's the rest of the "gang"?'

'Alex went for a surf,' said Logan, who looked down at the suitcases that Mac had. 'Are you staying?'

'I was hoping so. I was supposed to be at Ryan's for a few weeks; until I get an apartment, but I can't stay there because Katie has some sort of bug. I can stay here, right? If it's a problem, I'll just go and see whether Dick has room.'

'Don't even think about it, Mackenzie. You know you're welcome here anytime,' said Logan, as he grabbed her big suitcase and started to take it up the stairs. 'I'll get your usual room all sorted. Maybe you should go next door and surprise those Casablancas kids?'

'I think I will,' she said, as she left.

Mac stood outside the Casablancas house and knocked on the door, adding in a few furious ringing's of the doorbell.

'Alright, alright, hold your horses!' She could hear Dick yell, and Mac couldn't help but suppress a grin. When the door finally opened, Mac was met with a Dick who had a huge grin on his face and who bear hugged her immediately. 'Cindy!'

'Hello Dick,' she said, when they broke loose.

'I thought that you weren't getting here until next week?'

'Change of plan. Are you not happy to see me?' she joked.

Dick shook his head. 'I'm extremely happy.'

'Well, I'm glad that someone is; now where are the juniors?' she asked.

'Cassie! Richie! Can you come down here please?' Dick yelled.

* * *

'Sorry, Lila. We kind of have to go…dad wants us,' said Cassie.

'Okay, bye,' Lila said.

'You're coming around later, right?' asked Richie.

'Yeah, I'll see you then.'

Cassie got up slowly from the bed and dawdled out of the bedroom, Richie following her.

'What do you want?' she yelled down the stairs at her father. She looked down, but all she saw was a very familiar looking woman smiling at her.

'Mac!' Cassie almost squealed, before running down the stairs and giving her a hug.

'Hey Cass,' she said with her trademark grin. 'Richie, get your cute, college boy ass over here, now,' she said, and Richie complied, giving her a hug. 'Wow. Haven't you just buffed up?' she joked, seizing up his arms, because the last time she had seen him, he certainly hadn't looked like he did today. Richie began to flex his muscles jokingly.

'Don't encourage him,' Dick joked.

'Tell me about Japan!' Cassie insisted, as she led Mac by her arm to the kitchen table. The boys followed after them.

'Okay, I'll tell you about Tokyo; but _only_ if you guys spill all the gossip about what's been going on back here after,' said Mac. Richie and Dick took seats at the table.

'What can I say about Japan? Work was boring, but the city…it's just awesome. I'm taking you with me next time we go, Cass; seriously, you and Taylor would absolutely love it,' she said. Cassie didn't even bother to correct her, or start explaining the Taylor situation. Maybe later, when her dad wasn't around.

'You should see the fashions, and I don't even like fashion, but Tokyo…it's like a city that doesn't have a "fashion," everyone wears whatever they like; bright, clashing colours, it's just awesome. No one even gave a second look at my hair, seriously,' she said, as she motioned to her signature light blue streak in-between her dark hair.

Mac opened her handbag and started searching through it; finding what she wanted, it looked like a photo album. 'Check this out,' she said. The Casablancas moved in closer to her, to look at it.

Mac flipped to a photo with her and a group of Japanese guys, smiling at the camera. Half of them looked like they didn't want to be there. 'These are the guys that I worked with…they were pretty boring, actually. But it was fun. They'd never seen anyone like me in there before,' she laughed and flipped to another picture, this one showed Mac with a group of girls, all wearing a bright assortment of clothes. One of the girls had her hair dyed all bubblegum pink.

Cassie started to laugh. 'That is by far, the coolest thing I think I've ever seen,' she said. Mac grinned at her.

'Dick, put that fortune of yours to good use and take your kids on vacation, or I'll just have to do it myself,' Mac joked.

'Can we go on a holiday, dad?' Cassie asked hopefully.

'I guess we can go to Tokyo, if you really want to. But only if Cindy will be our tour guide,' Dick said with a smirk. Cassie and Richie both looked equally excited, as they looked at Mac expectantly.

'Of course!' she replied with a smile. 'Like I'm going to say no to those faces?' she joked, grabbing a hold of Richie's cheeks and giving them a pinch. He pulled away.

'Okay, as much as I love you, Mac attack, you keep that up and I'll have to-.'

Mac cut him off, 'Mac attack? Gee, that's original,' she said sarcastically.

'When did your flight get in?' Dick asked.

Mac shrugged. 'A couple of hours ago…but I had to go through security and all that…I came straight here.'

'You must be tired, and hungry. Are you staying at Logan's?' Dick asked. Mac nodded.

Richie moved towards the fridge and opened the door. 'Dad, we might have a bit of a problem…'

Dick looked at his son confusedly, before working it out, 'right. Well, that's perfect anyway. We're going out for lunch!'

* * *

'So, I told you about Japan…are you guys going to come good on our bargain?' Mac asked, as she took a bite of her meal. Dick had driven them all straight to Mac's favourite vegetarian restaurant as soon as they had gotten in the car.

'Well, nothing much…I go to college now,' Richie said.

'I would never have guessed!' Mac said sarcastically.

'Ha ha,' he retorted.

'Cass?' Mac asked.

'Uh…some things…I'll get into detail later,' she said, shooting Mac a look. Dick and Richie looked at Cassie interestedly, but Mac took the hint and didn't press the subject.

'Does anyone have _any_ news? Any at all? Dick?' Mac asked.

Dick paused for a moment; wracking his brain. 'Veronica's back in town,' he said, naming the latest gossip.

Mac nodded her head. 'I already know,' she said with a smile. 'Seriously, nothing?' she joked.

'How did you know that?' Dick asked.

Mac grinned to herself. 'I have my sources in Neptune.'

'Anyway, I'm really happy that you're back,' said Cassie with a genuine smile. Mac nodded.

She was beginning to realize just how good it was to be back, to be missed. She was back home now, back home with her _real_ family. They may not be related; but the Casablancas' and the Echolls' were the closest to a real family that she had ever known.

* * *

**A/N So, you're probably getting extremely sick of these long A/N's but, meh. **

**Ideas? Comments? Anything at all? I want to hear whatever it is that you have to say. Reviews are awesome (OMG I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH, REVIEWERS) I only continue to write this because of all of your support. Note that no reviews bug, especially not long ones that tend to ramble on, I live for those. Lol. **

**Anyway, thanks for reading again. I want to know what you guys want to see happen in the story, between all characters. Ideas are fabulous.**

**Also, all knowledge on Japan comes from my cousins (who went on exchange there) so don't blame me if that's not correct. lol. **

**Be patient; the mystery will be solved; I'm just trying to figure out how to occupy the chapters that lead up to it. **

**Peace.**


	12. Sending Postcards From A Plane Crash

I stood outside the Casablancas house and knocked on the door once again. When I didn't get an answer – again, I leaned again the post of the porch, waiting…Cassie and Richie said that they'd be here this afternoon.

'Lila!' said Alex from the sidewalk. He had a towel draped around his shoulders and a surfboard in his arm. He waved at me, and I grinned back as he made his way over to where I was. 'What are you doing here?'

'I came over to see Cassie and Richie…but it doesn't look as if they're home.'

Alex chewed his bottom lip; thinking about where they might be, 'come over to my place and wait…if you want.' I nodded, and followed him.

'So how was the surf?'

'Good. Nice waves,' he said, as he opened the door.

We were both overcome with the smell of cooking upon entering. 'I smell food,' said Alex plainly and loudly, but his comment wasn't really directed at me. He set his board by the back door. 'Which is weird because you never cook,' he told the house.

I could hear someone scoffing in the kitchen (probably Logan) 'Well come and see for yourself at the marvel, if it is as rare as you say,' he said loudly.

I walked into the kitchen, 'hi, Mr Echolls.'

'Lila, hey, how are you?' he said brightly.

'Not too bad thanks.'

'Sorry about the sparring; it's a regular occurrence here,' he said, I gave him a small smile. Alex walked over and opened the oven door; inspecting what was inside it. 'Wow. Lasagna. I am amazed. What's the occasion?'

'Well if you were here earlier; you would know. Mac's back.'

Alex grinned at the news, 'sweet,' he commented. 'I hope that she brought that stereo that I've had my eye on.'

Logan raised an eyebrow, 'the one worth five grand?'

Alex nodded. 'Yeah, that's the one.'

'You have extremely high hopes, boy, if you _seriously_ think that that's what you're getting.'

'Hey now, we all know that I _am_ the favorite godchild.'

Logan scoffed again, 'yeah…sure whatever you reckon,' he mumbled.

'So, I presume that Mac is out with the Casablancas'?' I asked, putting two and two together.

Logan shrugged, 'most probably.'

'Oh. Well, I'll probably go then…they'll have a lot to catch up on,' I said as I walked away slowly.

'You don't have to go; I'm sure Mac would be…interested to meet you,' said Logan. I shot him a confused look and he chuckled, 'no, I mean, you are Veronica's daughter.'

Before I could reply, we all heard the front door burst open, immediately filling the house with laughter and talk.

'…I remember your middle school graduation Richie…' said an unfamiliar voice.

'Oh please don't bring that up,' he said. I heard someone else laugh heartily, probably Dick.

As the group walked into the kitchen; I saw the woman, she had to be Mac. She looked like a likeable person, happy and laughing, and she had a blue streak in her dark hair. My first impression of her was that she was cool.

'Talking about the time where Richard fell off the stage? Ah, memories,' said Logan, joining into the conversation.

'That was the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life,' said Mac, as she gasped for breath in between her laughter.

'Ha ha. That's right guys, laugh it up,' said Richie sarcastically.

'Hey Mac!' said Alex.

'Alexander Brandon Echolls, are you going to give me one good reason why you ditched greeting me, for going surfing?' Mac asked playfully, before she hugged him tightly. 'Look at you, all grown up now, taller than me.'

'That's not hard, Mackie,' said Dick.

'Oh you shush,' she said playfully to him, as she went and stood next to Cassie, 'well, at least I'm still taller than you…that gives me comfort in a way,' she said, as she put an arm around her.

'Mac, this is…' said Richie, motioning to me, but Mac cut him off.

'You look so much like your mom that it's not funny,' she said to me. I was a little surprised. 'Lila, right?'

I smiled and nodded, 'yep, that's me.'

'Seriously with blonde hair… what do you think?' she turned directly to Logan and looked at him sharply.

He looked awkward and cleared his throat, 'yeah…dead ringer…' he commented, nodding his head a little bit.

I laughed, 'I actually did dye my hair blonde once…the blonde jokes didn't stop coming…then I had to dye it back when my dark roots started to show,' I said. Cassie and Mac grinned at me.

'Man, I hate blonde jokes!' Richie said seriously, this caused the whole room to erupt with laughter.

'You should invite Veronica around for dinner,' said Mac, 'I mean…if it's okay with you guys,' she said, looking at Logan in particular.

'No problemo!' said Dick enthusiastically. Cassie looked at him with an amused look on her face, 'no problemo? That is one of the lamest things I've ever heard.'

'Hey, I used to be cool,' said Dick. Mac laughed.

'I doubt it,' said Alex, 'dad, was Dick _ever_ cool?'

'No,' Logan answered immediately, 'he thought he was, but he was never cool.'

'Screw you man, you're just bitter because I used to pull in the chicks,' said Dick.

Mac laughed. 'Yeah, bimbos that had air in between their ears instead of brains,' she giggled, I joined in with the laughter along with everyone else, except for Dick who scowled at her. 'I think I'll lie down. Jet lag,' she said, as she started to walk up the stairs.

'Okay, we'll wake you up before dinner,' he paused for a second, thinking, 'We'll make a night of it, invite some people around, have a proper "welcome home" for you,' said Dick, Mac gave him a thumbs up.

'Sure, go to town,' she replied sarcastically. 'But don't invite the entire 09er zip,' she warned.

Dick laughed. 'Just close friends, I've got it,' he said. Mac continued on her way up the stairs.

Logan raised his eyebrows at his friend, 'We're having a party at my place?'

'Come on, Loags, its Mac,' he said, as he put on a fake pout.

'Fine!' he caved.

'I'll drive you,' said Richie, as he put a hand on my shoulder. I gave him a quizzical look. 'You have to ask your mom whether she wants to come for dinner, right?'

'Oh yeah, right,' I said.

'I'll come too,' said Cass. 'Me too,' Alex said.

'Well, hey, why don't we hire a bus and then we can all go?' Logan joked. 'See you guys later on. Drive safe, Richie, and remember; red light means stop, green light means go.'

Richie rolled his eyes at him, as he led me out the front, and to his jeep, which was parked on the other side of the road.

'So, what did you think of our Mac?' Alex asked, catching up with Richie and Cassie and I.

'She's…cool,' I said. They all nodded in approval.

* * *

When we all arrived at my place, I got out of the jeep, and was surprised when I found that everyone else was following me. 'Oh, you don't have to come with,' I said. To be truthful, maybe I was the tiniest bit embarrassed for them to be inside my tiny, dingy apartment, the one that didn't even compare to the Echolls/Casablancas mansions.

'We want to,' said Cassie.

I led them over to the porch, opening the door and issuing a warning, 'Pop, you better put your pants on; we've got company,' I joked. I heard laughter behind me.

'Don't worry, sweetie, we're all clear,' he assured me. I opened the door wider and let everyone in.

'Oh hey, Alex, staying out of trouble?' said Pop, which surprised me. He knew Alex? That was a development.

'Always, Mr Mars,' he replied with a grin.

'How's you dad?'

'Fine.'

'That's nice,' said Pop, with a smile.

'Everyone, this is my grandpa. I guess you already know him though, Alex. Anyway…Pop, this is Richie and Cassie Casablancas,' I introduced them.

'Dick's kids, right?' he asked. I nodded. 'Nice to meet you,' he said with a grin.

'Hey, dad, I thought that you were going to get the hot water fixed like…twenty years ago?' said my mother, as she walked into the room, with wet hair (she'd obviously just come out of the shower.) She stopped suddenly. 'And you _promised_ to let me know when the house was being invaded by 09er kids,' she joked, looking around the room.

'Note that I'm not going to make the mistake of calling you "Dick" again…Richie, right?' she said with a grin. 'And…Logan's son, Alex?'

Alex nodded.

'And you're the infamous Ronnie,' Richie stated. Veronica looked at him funnily.

'You're lucky she let you get away with that…she hates being called "Ronnie." I remember when you were just a little girl, "don't call me that. Ronnie's a boy's name," you'd whine,' said Pop, with a wide smile.

'Ronnie _is_ a boys name,' mom replied. 'But I'm really not surprised that you called me that,' she said to Richie. 'Your father is one of the few people I actually don't taser when he calls me,' she winced slightly, '"Ronnie." Although perhaps I should from now on.'

Cassie laughed, 'Please, please do,' she joked.

'Mom, this is Cassie,' I said.

'Casablancas?' mom asked with a small smile. Cassie nodded.

'So, what's the reason for this unexpected drop-in…let me guess, your friends wanted to see just how awesome your Pa was in real life?' Pop joked.

'Actually, my dad wants to know whether you'll join us for dinner tonight at Casa Casablancas,' Richie said to my mom.

I watched as the expression on my mom's face changed. 'Sure,' she said after a moment with a grin.

'Actually,' Alex interrupted, 'Sorry to burst your bubble, Richie, but it's at Casa Echolls,' he pointed out.

'Right. Whatever, dude,' he replied.

'Well…if you guys want to go "hang" I'll meet you around there later on,' mom said uncertainly.

'Sure,' I said, as Alex and Cassie made their way to the door. 'You'd better be there!' I said, as we left.

* * *

So we all went back to the Echolls', or rather, the Casablancas'. Alex and Richie were somewhere else playing some sort of gaming console, and Cassie had trapped me in her room.

'Time to dish on your date, Lila,' she said brightly, as she sat down on her queen-sized bed.

I groaned, 'actually, I think I'd rather join the guys playing whatever gory game they're into,' I said.

Cassie giggled, 'come on, Lila, dish!'

I slumped down onto the bed. 'What exactly, would you like to know?'

'Details; everything,' she said.

'Where to begin… well, we went around to his house and had dinner with his parents… then to the movies, where Michelle bumped into me, and when I say bumped, I mean literally bumped, then we went home,' I said quickly.

'Okay, when I say details; that actually means details,' Cassie said, who looked at me expectantly. 'Nothing else?'

'We kissed,' I said quietly.

'Sorry? You'll have to speak up, I can't hear you,' said Cassie.

'Do you want me to shout it from the roof? We kissed,' I said. Cassie gasped, and then replaced her look of shock with a sly grin.

'Wow, Lila, so you and JD…?'

'I have no idea what the story is there. We kissed and then it just ended really quickly…I think that we were both thinking the same thing; something along the lines of "Oh my god. I've just kissed my best friend. What happens now? Is this going to completely ruin our friendship?" do you know what I mean?'

Cassie gave me a thoughtful look, 'Don't worry about it, things will work themselves out, trust me,' she said reassuringly.

'Okay, so I've told my tale; let's hear all about your love life, Cass. Come on, dish it!' I said, as I settled myself onto the bed, making myself more comfortable. I noticed that Cassie immediately became a little more uncomfortable.

She cleared her throat, 'really, what is there to tell, you know?' she asked.

'Wow, Cass, is there something you want to tell me, or more importantly, don't want to tell me?' I asked.

Cassie looked at me for a second, 'okay…if I tell you something, do you promise not to tell anyone?' she asked, looking slightly scared.

'Um, of course,' I said, like it was obvious. 'Oh, and you can't tell anyone about the JD thing, either.'

She nodded, 'Uh…how to say this? …Well, the other day, I went to the beach…'

'And you built a sandcastle?' I suggested, when she paused for a long while.

'No. Anyway, I went down to the beach…it was getting dark, and I was watching Alex surf…'

My eyes widened. 'And?' I prompted.

'And… after he had finished, Alex came right onto the shore and kissed me, right there. He said that he'd "wanted to do that for so long" and we ended up…'

I cut Cassie off, 'you didn't?'

'No!' she said soundly, after figuring out what I was implying. 'No, of course we didn't… we made out, for a while, until dad rang, asking where I was,' she said quickly, and it looked like she was a little embarrassed.

'Cassie, wow, that's,' I said brightly, but she cut me off.

'No, it's not cool. Here's the thing; now, now it's just awkward. He barely even looks me in the eye anymore…we've lived like…we've lived like practically family ever since we were little. It's too weird. What if our parents found out?' she asked hysterically.

I reached for Cassie's arm. 'Relax, Cass. Truthfully, I don't think that your parents would mind that much. You should talk to Alex.'

'I don't know… I mean, he's been practically avoiding me for the last few days… he goes out surfing, like all the time, probably just to avoid me.'

I didn't know quite what to say to her; sure if I thought that my situation with JD was awkward, then I was really quite thankful that I didn't practically live with the guy, like Cassie's situation.

'Everything is going to sort itself out,' I said optimistically, 'and, hey, if not, then we can always go out and hook up with random hotties until we make them jealous, and come to their senses,' I said.

Cassie's eyes widened, and her expression changed, 'Lila, that's brilliant!'

'I was kidding,' I stated quickly.

'No, no that's a really good idea. And if it doesn't work; then we still get the random hotties,' she said with a wide grin.

'Cassie, seriously…I,' I started to argue with her, tell her what a horrible idea it really was, but she cut me off again.

'Nope, now you don't do anymore talking or worrying, Lila Mars. Tomorrow, we begin to search for perfect fill-in-guys,' she said brightly, with an evil glint in her eye (well, I swore that it was evil.)

'I don't think that's a very good idea,' I said.

'It's a plan then!' she said. I groaned inwardly. It didn't look like there was any way to talk her out of this simply idiotic "plan."

* * *

'Ten bucks she's not going to show,' I said.

We were in the Echolls lounge room; Richie, Alex, Cassie and I, sitting and waiting while dinner time got closer and closer and there was still no sign of my mother.

'I'll take that. Ten bucks she does,' said Alex with a grin.

I grinned at him evilly, 'well, just be prepared to lose; because you obviously don't know my mother,' I said.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

'Get ready to pay up,' said Alex, as he rubbed his hands together. Richie got up to get the door.

'Hey!' we could hear him greet brightly from the other room. 'Come on in, the oldies are out back.'

'Looks like you're sans ten bucks, Lila,' said Cassie with a smile.

'Oh, shush, you,' I commented.

Richie came back to the room, and we could hear him talking and laughing. I raised my eyebrows at Cassie, for some sort of explanation.

As he rounded the corner, we could all see the company that Richie had. 'Hey, everybody, look who showed up! Tim and …' he closed his eye, as if trying to remember her name.

She rolled her eyes, 'Taylor,' she said boredly. 'And you know my name, Richie.'

'Yeah, it was on the tip of my tongue,' he said, as he took a seat back on the couch.

'Looks like your money is safe…for now,' said Alex to me. 'Hey Taylor.'

'Hey Alex, Lila,' she replied, I noticed how the tone of her voice dropped when she said, 'Cassidy.'

Cassie grimaced, at the use of her full name. 'Taylor, how are you?' she asked politely, yet bitterly.

'Not too bad, thank you,' she replied coolly, taking a seat on the couch, next to me.

The room was silent for a few moments; you probably could have cut the tension with a knife.

'So…' said Tim after a while.

'How's the team going, Timmy?' asked Richie, starting a conversation, 'It must be pretty cool to be a celebrity. And to have those cheerleaders…'

Tim chuckled, 'yeah, that is one of the plus sides to it,' he said with a grin.

'I'll bet,' said Richie.

The doorbell rang again.

'I'll get it!' We heard Mac yell from the kitchen, and we heard her shoes padding across the flooring, which made Cassie giggle a little, but she stopped when Taylor shot her a look.

Alex looked over at me, 'ten bucks, Mars,' he said cockily.

'Are you expecting any other guests?' I asked generally.

'Not that I'm aware of,' he smirked.

* * *

Veronica stood outside the Echolls front door. She had almost not even attended this little "shindig," but Keith had practically forced her to go.

She was feeling more nervous as she watched a silhouette approach.

The person on the other side opened the door. 'Veronica!' they said, as they hugged her, and Veronica realized that it was her old friend Mac, so she hugged her back soundly, keeping the ice cold champagne that she had brought as far away from their bodies as possible.

'Mac! What are you doing here? I thought that you were in Japan,' Veronica said, once they had ceased with the emotional reunion.

'I had to come back…I just missed everyone so much,' she said. 'You included. Talking on the phone just isn't the same as mutual contact.' Veronica chuckled.

She took a step into the house as Mac closed the door behind her, 'Yeah, I agree, this is at least…ten times better, seeing you in person. You look great, by the way.'

'Thanks, so do you,' said Mac, who took the bottle of champagne from Veronica's hand and examined it. She whistled, 'fancy much? My, my, Veronica Mars, are you trying to wow us?' Mac joked.

Veronica shrugged, 'I just figured…when in the 90909 zip code…' she started to joke, but stopped when they entered the kitchen and saw the assortment of people there.

'Hey Ronnie!' said Dick brightly.

Veronica gave a small, not quite there smile, 'hi everyone,' she said quietly.

Yeah, this wasn't going to be awkward in the least, a whole dinner with all of these "old acquaintances." If she hadn't wanted to go before, at the thought of just Dick and Logan being there, then she certainly wished that the ground would just swallow her up right now.

Oh, this was going to be a _very_ interesting night.

* * *

**A/N So, I know, I completely suck. I haven't updated in… I can't remember the last time I updated. At first, I had no idea where it was going (the slow update), but I started to write, and this is where it got me, and I quite like the ending…Ah, the possibilities.**

**Okay, so I promised someone that I would be revealing Lila's father in either this chapter or the next one…well, that doesn't look like it will be happening anymore, just because now I know what occupies the next few chapters. Maybe the one after next (chapt. 13 or 14, fingers crossed) Anyway, I hope everyone sticks with me until then, and afterwards.**

**Can I just say, that I never thought that this story would be this long; but there are just so many important details that I want to put into it. So I hope you guys aren't bored out of your brains, or just completely sick of me and this damn storyline!  
**

**Review and I PROMISE I won't take too long to update. The more reviews, the more I just want to keep writing for you guys, so you know what to do.**

**Peace.**


	13. Champagne For My Real Friends

**VERONICA**

'Veronica?' asked a woman, as she started to make her way towards me. As she got closer I started to recognize her a little, she looked familiar. Was that-?

'Jackie?' I asked. She nodded and gave me a light hug around the shoulders.

'It's so good to see you, you look great,' she said, once she had taken a step back and studied my appearance.

'You too,' I replied politely.

I looked around the room, and saw someone on the other side that I hadn't seen for years – Wallace.

I gave him a small smile, which he didn't return. The tension in the air was thick, it seemed as if the whole room was watching us.

Mac cleared her throat, 'well, what's say we open this bubbly and get the party started?' she asked.

'Oh, yes, please,' said Jackie.

I continued to look at Wallace. His face remained expressionless.

'Wallace,' I said quietly. He didn't speak- instead he muttered something about, 'going to the bathroom,' before leaving the room. I looked over at Jackie and Mac who were obviously watching the icy exchange, but looked away, as soon as they realized that I was looking their way.

My father had told me that Wallace had married Jackie, a long time ago, and I wasn't really surprised when I had heard that news.

Dick gave an awkward chuckle after a while, trying to start a conversation, 'well…dip, anyone?' he offered.

There was silence, until Logan hit Dick on the arm playfully and said, 'good one, buddy,' sarcastically, adding a shake of the head in disapproval. Dick gave him a pained look.

'I think I might just head home then,' I said quietly, making a gesture towards the front of the house; and more importantly, the door.

To my surprise; it wasn't Mac or Dick that grasped my arm (like I had expected one of them to,) but it was Jackie, who held onto it gently. 'You don't have to leave, Veronica,' she said simply.

'Yeah, stay…the more the merrier, right?' Logan said with a sly grin. That statement probably convinced me. I nodded my head. 'Okay.'

Dick grabbed one of the glasses of champagne from the bench and handed it to me, 'so, what have you been up to, Ronnie? How's the FBI treating you?' he asked.

I looked down at the glass wistfully, 'actually; I'm not in the FBI,' I said quietly. 'I guess that whole "me being an accomplice to Duncan's daughter's kidnapping" thing kind of put them off,' I said, half jokingly; still, after all these years trying to mask the disappointment.

'Veronica takes pictures for the Globe,' said Logan, looking at me with a sparkle in his eye. I was confused for a moment.

'That's right,' I smiled, 'how did you know that?'

He shrugged, 'your dad mentioned it.'

I nodded my head. There was silence for another awkward moment. I broke it by putting my glass down on the bench. 'Would you excuse me; I need to go to the bathroom,' I said, as I walked over to the other half of the kitchen, passing Logan on my way out. I pointed down the hall questioningly.

'Last on the right,' he said. I nodded and continued on, leaving the silence.

Okay, the truth; I didn't have to use the bathroom at all. I just needed to talk to Wallace. Just knowing that we were the reason behind these awkward silences was killing me. Obviously, my old friends just weren't comfortable with me around anymore.

I thought about how this night would have panned out twenty odd years ago – there would probably be 09er teenagers from wall to wall, drinking and groping each other. Either Dick or Logan would have been holding it, and Wallace, Mac and I would have been the odd ones out, segregating ourselves (if we had even bothered to show up.)

Now, it looked as if I was the odd one out, which in itself, made me feel even more depressed. There had been a time when I had been the only connection that these people all had with each other; which led to a new series of questions; since when had these people ever been friends in the first place. Wallace and Logan? Okay, they actually didn't get on too badly; but Wallace and Dick? Mac and Dick? Jackie and Mac?

As I walked down the hall, engrossed in my own thoughts; I didn't even realized that there was someone else there until I bumped heads with them. We both stood back, rubbing the tender areas. I realized that the person that I had bumped into was the very person who I was looking for in the first place.

'Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going,' I told him. Wallace looked up and realized that it was me.

'Veronica,' he said simply, as he tried to move past me. I blocked him inconspicuously.

'I want to talk to you,' I said, lowering my hands to my sides.

He gave a look of fake shock, 'well, that's news; now I'm worthy of Veronica Mars' time?' he asked ironically. He shook his head a little.

'I'm sorry.'

'Yeah, I'm sorry too. I wasn't concentrating,' he said quickly, referring to before.

Wallace tried to walk away again, but I blocked him once more, 'I'm sorry for everything…the past few years…I wanted to visit, or call…'

'Well why didn't you?' he asked, his tone suddenly sharp. 'You just left; no explanation or anything. No goodbye.'

'You weren't there to say goodbye to! You left me, remember?' I suddenly erupted, angrily, for once letting out all of my grievances; but perhaps not on the right person.

'You _knew _where I was…you knew I would be back, it was just a trip,' Wallace started, but I cut him off.

'Just a trip? I knew that there was probably slim to no chance that you were coming back, Wallace. You'd already been gone for a few months,' I started, but this time he cut me off.

'Yeah, okay, but did I,' he pointed at himself, 'ever break contact with _you_ when I was in New York? No. I called, I emailed…there's a difference.'

I looked down at my hands. He was right. 'I was scared…and angry,' I said quietly.

'Even more reason to see me, or call; we were best friends,' he said solemnly, his eyes searching my own.

That sentence hit me, hard. We were best friends. We _were_ best friends. It was odd, that even in the years where we had lost contact; I had continued to consider him as my best friend. There was an F on the end of BF for a reason. And Wallace had been the best friend I had ever wanted, and more. He even climbed higher than Lilly on the friendship ladder.

'I felt…like…' I started to say, but Wallace had finally managed to push past me.

'I really don't want to hear it. The only reason why I'm not leaving right now is because this dinner really means something to Mac. Don't look too much into it,' he said, before stalking off.

After I stopped hearing Wallace's footsteps, down the hall, I felt horrible. I didn't even realize when I started to cry, but when I did, I couldn't stop. I walked into the empty bathroom and closed the door behind me, crouching against the wall, all huddled up. I didn't even care how pathetic I seemed at that moment.

This was the end of mine and Wallace's friendship. I had been told; once and for all that it was over. And it was mostly, if not entirely, my fault.

* * *

**WALLACE**

I stopped when I rounded the corner, thinking that perhaps I was a little harsh on Veronica just now. I should really go back there and talk to her, see if she's okay.

I started walking again when I remembered that I wasn't the one in the wrong here. She was the one that left; and she hurt a lot of people when she left; including me.

When I got back to the kitchen, I immediately heard the hush of voices; like everyone was talking about me; they probably were.

I made my way over to Jackie, standing behind her and taking the glass of wine from her hand, taking a sip.

'Hey, hey, did I give my permission for you to be doing that?' she joked. I kissed her on the cheek.

'Come on you two. Stop that, before all of us singletons get extremely depressed about our love lives,' said Mac.

I stopped and took a cracker from the container, making as much of a crunch as I could.

'Did you pass Veronica in there?' Jackie asked softly. She had obviously been elected spokesperson for the group in my interrogation.

'Yerrp.' I replied.

'And?' Mac asked, all wide-eyed.

I let out a chuckle. 'Didn't you hear our screaming match?' I said seriously.

Everyone around the room had different reactions; Mac looked shocked, Dick looked amused, Jackie had a smug look on her face, probably because she knew I was lying and Logan, well, damn, Logan looked concerned, that or, he either wanted to punch my lights out.

I knew that look too well, from Logan anyway. It was still imprinted in my mind from the high school/college days; whenever it seemed that all Logan cared about was Veronica, which used to be the majority of the time back then.

'He's lying,' said Jackie, un-amusedly, as she took a sip of her wine.

'Dude!' Dick said. A typical Dick comment.

* * *

**LILA**

'I'm bored,' said Taylor, as she slumped against the back of the couch.

'I've got an idea!' said Richie. Everyone sat up a little straighter, listening to his suggestion. 'Let's play spin the bottle.'

In unison; most of us groaned and slumped back into our comfortable positions around the living room.

'Do you really think that's a good idea when there are two sets of siblings in the room?' Tim asked with a skeptical look.

'I don't mind,' said Richie, who jokingly winked at Cassie, who in turn, looked away and pretended to dry-heave.

'Dude, that is so not cool,' said Alex. Taylor laughed at the exchange.

'Seven minutes in heaven?' Richie suggested with a grin.

'That's safer,' I said sarcastically, lightly hitting him on the arm.

Tim looked around, rolled his eyes and shook his head at the rest of us, 'high schoolers; seriously,' he sighed. 'Richie, when you grow up, I'll be in the kitchen with the rest of the adults.'

Richie gave him a thumbs up before he left. 'Okay, so, seriously; truth or dare?'

Taylor smiled, 'I'm up for that,' she shuffled closer to the coffee table. Both Taylor and Richie turned to me expectantly.

'Fine! I'm in.'

Alex and Cassie both moved closer to group.

'Okay; so rules are, you _have_ to pick either truth or dare, and you _can't_ change your answer. And you can't pass, or skip a go. You can pick whoever you like to go next, as well,' said Richie. 'I'll go first and I pick…Alex.'

'Dare,' he said immediately, with a smirk. Cassie scoffed, 'big surprise,' she said, rolling her eyes.

Richie thought hard for a moment before saying, 'okay, I've got one…you have to streak naked through the kitchen tonight.'

'Seriously?' Taylor asked. 'Is that all you have? That's so easy; he could just streak at midnight; when no one is around,' she pointed out.

Richie tried to shush her, 'now you've ruined it. He wouldn't have known that if you hadn't told him!'

Alex laughed, 'cinch. Okay now…Taylor,' he said, turning to her, as she grinned.

'Dare,' she said, almost as quickly and surely as he had.

'Alright…tonight, you must have a conversation with Dick that lasts over ten minutes,' he said with a smile. Cassie and Richie both started to laugh as Taylor groaned.

'What? Why is that funny?' I asked.

'Because Taylor doesn't really get along with dad,' said Richie.

'We get along fine…he just never stops paying me out, I think he means it as a joke, but the thing is…it's not funny,' said Taylor, who paused for a moment, before grinning wickedly at Richie. 'You're up.'

'Dare. And please let it include a hot chick.'

Taylor smiled evilly, 'nope. Okay…I've got a good one! Tonight you have to discreetly hit on my brother.'

'What?' Richie asked.

Alex laughed heartily, as did Cassie and I joined in after a while. Richie continued to look at Taylor in shock, but she just looked smug. 'Fine,' he said sheepishly after a while.

Taylor rubbed her hands together, 'this is gonna be good.'

'Alrighty then, Cassidy. I pick you,' said Richie, who looked less-than-pleased about his dare.

'Truth. I've got nothing to hide,' she said, after considering it for a moment.

Richie paused for a moment. The room was silent. 'What were you and Alex doing at the beach the other day?'

Cassie immediately turned red, with a blush.

'I was teaching her how to surf,' said Alex.

'I was asking Cass,' Richie said.

'We were surfing,' said Cassie, 'I'm really bad…I could hardly stand up on the board.'

If anything; I admired Cassie's ability to tell a viable lie. It was only her blush that gave her away; but most people in the room either already knew the truth, or presumed it.

'Um…Lila,' she said.

'Is it safe to say truth?'

'Can I take this one? I've got a good one,' said Taylor. Cassie nodded. 'What's the real story with you and JD?'

'Wait, who's JD?' Richie asked curiously.

'He's a friend, _just_ a friend,' I said forcefully.

'That's not what you told me before,' said Cassie. I glared at her. Why did they have to bring this up…here?

'Okay, okay,' said Alex, breaking up the conversation. 'I say that we stop now, because this is getting a little too, 'girl talk' for me…soon enough we'll be painting our nails and having D and M's.'

'D and M's?' Richie asked.

'Deep and meaningfuls! Don't you know anything, Richard?' Cassie asked.

'Evidentially not,' Taylor said, with a grin.

I noticed that her and Cassie's eyes locked for a second, exchanging pleased looks, before they realized what they were doing, and both smiles faded from their faces quickly. Cassie cleared her throat.

'So who wants to sneak some booze from the kitchen?' Richie asked hopefully.

* * *

**WALLACE**

'Dinner's almost ready. You wanna go and retrieve the juniors?' Logan asked Mac, who nodded and left.

'Where's Veronica?' Jackie asked, as she poured herself another glass of wine. 'She's been gone a while.'

'I'll go-' Logan started, but I cut him off, putting a hand out in front of him to block his escape.

'I've got it,' I said, as I exited the kitchen and walked down the hall. I was about to knock on the bathroom door, when I realized that it was already open. I could hear Veronica inside, so I pushed the door open a little wider.

She looked tiny; huddled up in a little ball next to the door, crying. I immediately felt protective of her, and horrible, as well, because I was supposed to be comforting her, like a real friend. It was in the back of my mind that 'we weren't friends anymore,' but at that moment, I couldn't have imagined my life without Veronica Mars, friend or no. She would always be my friend; and I had never regarded her as anything other (with the exception of half-an-hour ago.)

It dawned on me that friends were supposed to be there for each other; through good and bad. And I hadn't been. Hell, me and my bad choice of words were probably the prompt for these emotions.

I could have, no scratch that, I should have been a better friend to her. Maybe made more of an effort to find her after she had left; but then again, I wasn't wholly to blame either.

Maybe that's what made me slide down on the cool tiles next to her and put my arm around her shoulders.

* * *

**VERONICA**

If I were expecting anyone's touch; it would have been Mac's, or Jackie's, or anyone other than Wallace's. But I was glad when I realized that it was, indeed, Wallace.

I turned around and hugged him as well as I could in our position on the floor. 'I'm sorry,' I said quietly.

'Yeah, me too,' he said, as he patted my back.

'The internship had just fallen through…and everyone was gone…right when I needed you…everyone was gone, and everything was falling apart,' I said in between sobs. I owed him this much; the truth. '…And then…I made a huge mistake…I was scared and angry and…'

'Don't even worry about that anymore, V,' he said softly, comfortingly.

I looked up at him after a while, 'we can never be friends again, can we? We're never going to get past this…things are never going to be like they were…'

He hushed me, and gave me a warm smile, brushing a warm hand over my tear-tracks, making them disappear, 'No,' he said solemnly, but he smiled and continued, 'things aren't going to be like they used to…that was seventeen years ago. I imagine that our conversations will be more mature, and we'll spend more time complaining about our kids latest antics than we used to,' he joked.

I gave a small chuckle. 'But…I'll still be around so that you can give me that infamous head tilt, and ask me for a favor, oh, and to bake me snicker doodles too,' he said. I laughed.

'I'd like that. A lot,' I admitted, with a sniff. I had missed him, this, everything.

I wanted to be Wallace's friend again. I had never stopped wanting to be his friend. Even after I had gotten over being angry with him, I tried to get in contact; but I was just too scared of his reaction, I hadn't even told him that I was leaving, but I was scared. And alone.

'Come on, supafly, we'd better be heading out, or all the food will be gone; and Logan's lasagna is something that shouldn't be missed,' he said, as he stood up, extending a hand for me.

I took it, 'Logan makes lasagna? Logan makes food, period?'

Wallace chuckled, 'Yeah, I know its hard to believe; from humble, rich kid beginnings, e.g getting room service at every opportunity, to becoming a regular Jamie Oliver…or maybe I should say Gordon Ramsey.'

I laughed as I looked at my appearance in the mirror and tried to fix myself up.

Wallace put his arm around my shoulder and steered me away from the mirror, 'you look fine.'

'Liar.'

'That's what best friends are supposed to say, right?' I turned to him and grinned.

* * *

**LILA**

'And time starts…now,' Alex whispered into my ear, as he started the timer on his watch. I looked in the direction that he was looking and saw Taylor approach Dick. We could hear the beginning of the conversation from where we were standing.

'Hi, Mr C.'

'Tay-Tay,' Alex laughed next to me as we both saw Taylor cringe at the use of the (horrible) nickname. 'Long time no see.'

She nodded, 'yep.'

'So… are you still dating that biker dude?' Dick asked.

I started to laugh, as Taylor kept looking back at us, as if just asking for an excuse to get her out of there.

'Drink?' Alex asked, I nodded and followed him over to the fridge. He busied himself pouring us both a lemonade before turning around, 'so, you know about Cassie and me?'

'And I'm not the only one,' I answered, referring to Richie's "truth." 'Cassie told me earlier.'

Alex rubbed his eyes, like he was tired. He stopped after a moment, staring at me, 'I really like her, you know?'

I smiled, 'Well I guess you two have something in common then.' He looked at me confused, so I continued, 'you both like each other.'

'Yeah…but it's,' he started, but I cut him off.

'Complicated? I know, I've already been given the speech by Cass.'

'You won't…tell anyone, will you?' he asked, looking slightly anxious. I held up three fingers in a scout's honor. 'It's just…my dad and her dad and…'

'It's complicated?'

'Yeah. And look, while I'm here,' he surprised me, by grabbing a hold of my arm and gently leading me into the secluded hall. 'I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry for what happened at my party. I was confused and you're cool, and I like you…but not _like that, _just so you know,' he assured me, and I grinned. 'Any clue on who your dad is yet?'

I shook my head. 'Nothing. I keep trying to start a conversation with my mom, but she'll either pretend that she didn't hear me, or go off and do something else. I'm going to have to do something about it myself.'

'If you need any help; I'd be happy to…'

'Thanks. And for the record; you know how sure I was that your dad was…' I trailed off, but Alex showed that he got the gist by nodding. 'Yeah, well, now; judging by our parents behavior towards one another, I'm pretty sure that I'm not an Echolls.'

Alex gave me a small smile, 'we'd better be going back in. Taylor's time's almost up, and she'll be wanting us to rescue her before it's too late.'

As we walked back into the kitchen, I became aware that my mom was in the room. She was with Wal Fennel, and she looked…happy.

I don't think I'd ever seen her as happy as she was at that moment; sitting and laughing with Wal, Mac and another lady who I didn't recognize, but reminded me of Taylor for some reason.

I smiled to myself at my mom's happiness.

'Ten bucks,' said Alex, as he recognized her himself.

'You know I was just kidding about that bet, right?' I joked.

'Hmmm, sure you were,' he said sarcastically. 'I have witnesses.'

Alex walked towards Richie, who was talking to Logan in the corner. I looked towards my mom again, who caught my eye.

'You have to meet my daughter!' she said loudly, as she strode towards me, taking a hold of my arm and leading me back towards the bench. 'Lila, this is my best friend Wallace,' she said with a radiant smile.

Wallace extended a hand, 'we've met before,' he told mom.

'Wallace's wife, Jackie and you know Mac, right?'

I nodded. 'Yeah.'

'Well, it's nice to meet you,' said Taylor's mom, Jackie.

'You too.'

At that moment, Taylor came up to me and grabbed me by the arm, 'that was absolute torture,' she said. I laughed.

'What was?' Wallace asked interestedly.

Taylor rolled her eyes at him, 'never mind. Come on, Lila, I'm rescuing you from all of these boring old people,' she joked.

'Old? Now, Taylor, I, personally find that a little bit insulting,' joked Mac.

Taylor smiled, as we walked away.

* * *

'Mmm, Logan, this is _really_ good,' said mom, with wide eyes as she took another bite of her meal.

'Should I be offended that you sound surprised?' he asked with a grin touching his lips.

'I _am_ surprised…like Wallace said, from _humble_, getting your meals delivered every single day, beginnings. To actually learning how to cook…it is a miracle,' she replied.

'Were you and Wallace talking about me behind my back!? I'm shocked!' he joked. Mom, and a few others laughed.

Maybe I was the only one who registered some sort of spark between my mother and Logan Echolls. I shrugged it off.

I liked the person that my mom was around these people; I could tell that they made her genuinely happy.

'You got your meals delivered every day? That's just sad,' said Alex.

'Oh you shush. You have no idea how hard it was to have grown up with several full-time maids making your meals for you day after day,' Logan said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Mac and Wallace both scoffed.

'Oh, yes, you and Dick were both so unprivileged,' said my mom, returning the sarcasm.

'It wasn't as easy as you think!' Dick joked.

'So, when are _we_ getting a maid, dad?' Taylor asked.

Wallace gave a loud laugh, and replied, 'only in your dreams. Why have a maid when you're mother is a perfectly capable housewife?'

Jackie smacked him lightly on the shoulder, 'okay, now you can do your _own_ laundry.'

A few people laughed as Wallace tried to convince her that he was, 'just kidding!'

'Would you like a drink, Tim?' Richie asked, which made all of us that knew about the dare crack up with laughter.

Tim looked confused, 'um…sure.'

'You're not going to offer anyone else a drink?' Dick asked.

Richie considered it for a moment, 'no.'

'Why are you being so nice to Tim anyway?' Logan asked pointing his fork at him, confused. He had obviously noticed the subtle 'hitting on' Tim that was happening.

Richie shook his head, 'no reason,' he said unconvincingly, as he passed Tim a glass.

'Wait, do you have a thing for Tim?' Mac joked. Most of us kids teenagers laughed, and Tim looked at us like we were crazy.

'I think I'm just going to list under, "things that teenagers do that don't make sense."' Said Tim.

Wallace laughed, 'you can borrow my novel.'

* * *

The rest of the night went smoothly, we finished dinner, and us "teenagers" went back into the lounge and teased Richie about his dare.

When the adults were finished having coffee, mom came in, and said that it was probably time for us to head on home. As we were saying our goodbyes, Mac approached me.

'So, what's going on between Cassie and Taylor? I noticed some hostility…which is strange, because when I left, they were practically inseparable.'

I paused for a moment before deciding whether Mac was someone who I could trust, and replying, 'well, they aren't friends anymore…more like enemies actually.'

Mac bit her bottom lip, 'that's what I was afraid of. I'll have a chat to Cassie, and see what's really going on, but in the meantime, I have a plan.'

I was intrigued, 'continue, this sounds like fun,' I said, rubbing my hands together. Mac laughed.

'Just…let's do what we can to help them be friends, okay? I really hate to see them both like this,' said Mac.

'Like what?' I asked quietly.

'You may not recognize it, but they were so much more happier when they were friends…maybe it's because they've grown up, or…'

I cut Mac off, 'no, I agree, I didn't even know them back then, but they could definitely be happier.'

Mac grinned as mom made her way towards us, 'Thanks Mac, this was great,' she said, as she hugged her old friend.

'Don't thank me; thank Dick, it was his idea…or Logan.'

Mom smiled at her, 'it was a really good night. I'll see you around?'

'Yeah, you will,' said Mac, as my mom started to walk away with a last smile, and wave at Mac. I attempted to follow after her, but Mac stopped me with her words.

'We'll have to do something about those two as well,' she said quietly, just loud enough for me to hear. I stopped walking immediately.

'Which two?' I asked curiously.

'Veronica and Logan,' she replied.

So I wasn't the only one to have noticed. I shot Mac a sly grin as I followed my mom out of the house.

* * *

**A/N It's taken me a while, but here it is, all shiny and new. **

**So, what did you think of it? Do you like it, not like it? Reviews are great, and I always seem to get the next chapter out sooner, depending on the number of reviews I get (I am a greedy, greedy review pig.) **

**Next chapter…I'm seriously considering revealing Lila's father. It **_**will**_** happen in the near future. If you'd like to know who it is, review. **

**Hope you guys are still with me. And thanks for reading so far! I am completely overwhelmed at the number of people who have told me that this is one of their favorite stories, or that they are addicted! **

**Peace. **


	14. Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner

**A/N So it's my birthday today, and I thought that as a present to you guys, I'd give you the next, extremely long awaited installment of "My father?" YAY! All I ask for in return is reviews…lots and lots of reviews (because it seriously is my birthday!)**

**Please don't be mad, I've been SOOOOO busy, and had writers block. I promised that the more reviews, the quicker this one would be out…and this is one of those situations where I have to use the "it's not you, it's me," line. Lol. You guys are the best; if it weren't for your support I'd have given up on this story already. Apologies for making you wait for so long.**

**And on with the show…**

* * *

**LILA**

As I walked down the halls of Neptune High on Monday morning, I realized that I was running out of time. My mother had been back here, in Neptune, for almost three weeks now, and I honestly couldn't see her staying for much longer.

The mysterious case of the identity of my biological father was still unsolved, and I hardly had any more information about that than when I first got to Neptune.

I barely registered that I had arrived at my locker, but, before I knew it, I was opening the lock.

I was surprised, to say the least, when I become conscious that my usual empty locker (apart from a few text books that refused to fit inside of my bag) was currently occupied by a small box. I grabbed for the envelope that was sitting on top of the box.

_I forgot to give you this the other night, after what happened. _

_Happy delayed birthday! _

It was from JD, that bit was obvious. I reached for the box and opened it gingerly; it revealed a CD case, which was highly decorated. I studied it, the case was homemade, well, the artwork was.

It was a mix CD. And I laughed softly to myself when I remembered the reason why JD had probably given this to me. He often told me that I had terrible taste in music, and that I was going to have to be educated properly about "quality" music.

'What do you think of Pete Ashford?' came a voice from my right. I looked over at Cassie in confusion.

'What?' I asked, Cassie opened her mouth to explain, but as she laid eyes on JD's gift, her facial expressions changed.

'What's this?' she asked interestedly, as she took it from my hand before I could react.

'A CD,' I said offhandedly, closing my locker to hide the note that accompanied it.

'Well I figured that much.'

'Wait,' I said, as I stopped walking, my face knotted with confusion. 'Who's Pete Ashford?' I asked, taking the CD from Cassie, who eventually released her grip on it.

'He's a senior…kind of cute,' she replied. I turned around, so that we were fully facing each other, 'you're still going with your marvelous "plan," then?' I asked.

Cassie nodded excitedly, 'Phase one has just begun, my friend.'

I laughed, 'wow. That might be the most embarrassing thing you've ever said to me,' I commented. Cassie grinned at this statement. 'What about him?'

'Who?' I asked, not fully concentrating as I searched my bag for a pen.

'PCHer at ten o' clock. And he's staring at us…or you, it's kind of hard to tell,' Cassie said brightly. I turned around slowly and saw Andreas give us a sly grin. I turned back to Cassie.

'Well he's all yours.'

She giggled. 'Ha! I wonder how Taylor would react to me dating a member of her "crew," we'd be, like, sister-in-laws!' she said sarcastically.

'That would be…entertaining,' I said. 'I need to go to the bathroom before first period…I'll see you later?'

'You're sitting with us at lunch,' said Cassie with a grin.

I shook my head, 'I don't think so.' As much as I liked Cassie, I'd rather not sit with the other 09ers, in particular girls like Michelle.

Cassie frowned a little before walking away. I headed towards the bathroom, but was ambushed by Michelle herself.

'I'm a little confused,' she stated, as she scratched her head dramatically.

'Why? Did you finally realize that lipgloss has two s' in it?' I quipped.

'I thought that you were dating Richie Casablancas…but I saw you out with Jack the other night,' she said.

I cleared my throat, 'okay, even if it was any of your business, which it isn't, I'm not dating Richie.'

'Hmm,' she said, as she scratched her head again, 'that's interesting because he seemed to think differently.'

I rolled my eyes, 'get over yourself Michelle. I don't see how this has absolutely anything to do with you in the first place.'

'I wouldn't want to see poor Jack get hurt, that's all.'

I pushed on past her and walked away.

* * *

**MICHELLE**

I never liked her. Ever since the moment she stepped foot in this school. I honestly couldn't see what Jack saw in her, or Alex, or even Richie for that matter.

I realized that I didn't just dislike Lila Mars; I hated her and I wanted nothing more than to destroy her.

Who did she think that she was? Walking into Neptune High like she had been there for years, which she hadn't. I had been the one making my way into the 09er elite for all this time, only to be completely knocked off by Lila.

I had always considered my competition for queen of Neptune as Cassie, and before that there was Taylor. I smiled to myself as I remembered Taylor's demise; a well formed plan that had gone down perfectly, better than even I had expected.

When I sensed that Cassie and Taylor's friendship was going through a 'rough patch' I took full advantage of the situation, turning them against each other, without them even realizing it.

I had succeeded in getting Taylor ousted from the group. Cassie was going to be more difficult.

I used to like Cassie, back in middle school maybe. But now, I was just jealous of her, and I'll admit that. She was the girl that had everything; looks, money, friends and the boy.

My boy. Although I had never admitted it, I'd always liked Alex. Half the girls at Neptune High did; he was smart, funny and hot, just to mention a few of his good traits.

I didn't know what he saw in Cassie. What made her that great? I couldn't figure it out, that's for sure.

I walked over to my first period Maths class, checking my appearance reflected in a window as I passed it by. I needed to get my roots redone, they were getting totally gross.

As I walked into class, I slowed down, seeing Jack slumping over his desk, as per usual.

'Michelle, come and sit with us!' said Stacey from the back of the room. I waved her off and took a seat next to Jack, flipping my phone, and holding it over my ear, even though no one was calling me.

'I know… I know…' I started saying, sitting down in the chair next to Jack. When he heard that he was no longer alone, he lifted his head a little bit, but placed it back on the desk when he realized that it was me.

'She what?' I exclaimed. 'Oh no she did not! Liar,' I gasped. 'No way!'

I could see out of the corner of my eye, other people in the class starting to pay attention.

'Lila would not do such a thing!' I said dramatically, and JD's head cocked up slightly. He was paying attention. 'You saw her making out with Alex? Oh my god, really? No! But what about Richie?'

I rolled my eyes as if the person on the other line said something dumb. 'Um…well he is her boyfriend!' I said brightly.

The teacher walked in, 'Sorry Kate, must go. Okay, love you too. Mwah,' I said as I closed the phone.

The teacher, Mr Gibbons gave me a stern look before taking out the role call.

'I know what you're trying to do and it's not going to work Michelle. I know how girls like you think, and I'm not buying it for a second,' Jack said to me in a whisper after his name had been called.

I was taken aback. I knew Jack was cluey, he always had been. But since when had he had any idea of what went on inside 'a girl like me' brain? Still, I wasn't the least bit worried about his words, even if he hadn't believed me, that little wench Lila still spent way too much time with both Alex and Richie Casablancas for him not to be suspicious.

I had planted the seed of doubt into his mind, and that, if anything, was at least a step forward.

* * *

**LILA**

'So,' said a voice above me brightly. I looked up, only to see Alex standing over me, hands in his pockets and a wide grin on his face.

'So?' I asked. He took his hands out of his pockets and sat down on the green grass next to me.

'Almost Christmas,' he commented, looking up at the sky.

'I…I guess it is,' I said uncertainly. With everything that had been going on recently, I had completely forgotten about my favorite approaching holiday. Of course, Christmas coming up soon also meant that maybe my mother wouldn't be leaving Neptune so soon in the near future.

'Did you almost forget Christmas?' Alex asked with an eyebrow raised.

'I kind of did,' I answered honestly. Alex laughed.

'Gee Mars, they must be working you really hard at good ol' Neptune High, huh?'

I swatted him on the arm lightly, 'I've just been really, really busy, that's all.'

'Any plans?' he asked.

'Well, considering the fact that if it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't have remembered that the holidays were even approaching, I'd say no, not yet anyway.'

'Hey, I'm just glad I could help,' Alex said sarcastically.

'What about you?' I asked.

'Um…turkey….pudding….Christmas tree…carols…you know, the usual Echolls family Christmas.'

'Sounds very…domesticated,' I said.

'Oh yeah,' Alex nodded enthusiastically, 'My Aunt Trina and her dealer husband come down from Vegas to wow us all with news about how many different celebrities they've seen in the past year, and we all exchange over-priced presents which we'll probably never find a use for…she gave me a hair-dryer last year. A hair dryer! What the hell am I going to use one of those for?' Alex asked exasperated.

'To dry your hair?' I said with a grin, motioning to his short locks. 'Wait…you said your uncle was a dealer…like, drugs?' I asked seriously.

He laughed, 'like, cards Lila.'

'Oh,' I said, feeling kind of stupid.

'I'm thinking of getting her a kitten,' he said, staring at a cloud overhead.

'Awww, cute.'

He turned to me with a grin, 'she's allergic to cats.' I rolled my eyes, 'I was kidding, by the way,' he said.

'Hey guys,' said a voice uncertainly as they approached. My smile temporarily dropped as I realized who it was – JD. Talk about awkward much?

He sat down on the grass on the other side of me, so that he was facing Alex. 'Alex, right?'

'Yeah, that's right,' he said, the grin rapidly diminishing from his own face as well.

'So, what are we talking about today?' JD asked brightly, making an attempt to continue the conversation. I was impressed; JD hated 09ers, and disliked Alex, yet here he was, making an attempt at conversation with him.

I grinned at him, 'Christmas actually,' I said.

'I love Christmas!' he said enthusiastically. I saw Alex smile at his tone. 'Yeah, me too.'

* * *

**VERONICA**

In my absence of sixteen years, I'd never noticed that my father still hadn't got fully domesticated. No milk in the apartment, or even the office? What exactly had he done without me for all those years, seriously?

As I strolled casually down the dairy isle, a voice caught my attention, 'Veronica?' A woman asked from my left. With a surprised look on her face.

'Yes?' I asked. I didn't recognize her. Suddenly, she grabbed me in a tight hug.

'Hey, how are you? I haven't seen you …since high school,' she contemplated, standing back. She must have noticed the confused look on my face because she added, 'It's me, Carmen, Carmen Ruiz…well, now it's Navarro, but…'

'Oh, Carmen! Right, sorry, I didn't even recognize you, you look great!'

'Thanks,' she said with a grin.

'Wait…wait…did you say that your last name was Navarro now?'

She nodded slowly, a grin making its way to her lips. 'Going on almost eighteen years,' she said, holding up her ring finger to show me the merchandise that currently occupied it.

'Wow. Just wow, I'm…astounded…you married Weevil?' I asked, feeling a little lost for words. She nodded brightly again.

'Eli.'

'Oh, right, Eli,' I said.

'No,' she giggled, 'I mean he's coming over,' she said, pointing over to the other side of the store, where, in fact, I recognized a slightly larger, older, balder Eli Navarro making his way towards us.

His eyes stayed trained on the ground, until he saw me, where his whole figure noticeably perked up.

'V?' he called, over the bustle of the store. Carmen laughed next to me. I nodded. When he reached us, he enveloped me in a bear hug, similar to the one that his wife had just given me. 'How you doing, girl?' he asked.

'Hey now, none of that, the missus might get jealous,' Carmen joked. Eli quickly released me and went over to his wife's side, pulling her in by the hip and kissing her on the cheek. 'You know this man has eyes only for his gorgeous wife now, don't you?' he said.

Carmen nodded, but pushed him away softly, 'come on, Eli, where are your manners, I'm sure Veronica would rather get reacquainted with us rather than watch this display of affections, don't you?'

Eli sighed dramatically, 'Always knew you were a spoil-sport, Mars,' he joked.

'Always knew you were a softie, _Eli_,' I said with a smile.

'I can't help it,' he shrugged. 'But, seriously, how are you?' he asked with a grin.

'Well, really well,' I said.

'It's been too long, Mars, where've you been hiding for all these years anyway?'

'Boston,' I replied. 'And what about you guys…I wasn't even aware that you two were an item.'

Carmen nodded, 'It's hard to believe…but Eli really is my knight in shining armor,' she said with a grin.

'And what about you? You have a daughter?' Eli said, snapping out of his momentary loved-up haze.

'Yeah I do…how did you know that?'

'We've met,' he said. I raised my eyebrows, urging him to elaborate. 'Sheriff's department, at about…one in the morning,' he said. I gave him a stern look. 'Thought you'd want to know the truth,' he shrugged.

I laughed, 'well, that daughter of mine's sure got some 'splaining to do.' The Navarro's both laughed. 'Any rug rats of your own?' I asked.

'I'd define them more as pains in my ass rather than rug rats,' said Eli. Carmen swatted him on the arm.

'Jonas and Andreas are seniors at Neptune…eighteen years old. God, that makes me feel old…and Marietta is eight,' said Carmen. 'What about you, any more besides the trouble-maker?' she joked.

I laughed, 'god no! No, I stopped at Lila, she's enough to handle by herself!'

Carmen smiled at me.

'Well, we'd better get going…' Eli prompted, looking at Carmen, who looked down at her watch.

'Oh, right! Well, anyway, it was nice to see you again, Veronica. Maybe we could get some coffee sometime?' Carmen suggested.

'Yeah, I'd like that.'

'See you around, V,' said Eli. I waved as they left. They seemed really happy.

* * *

**MAC**

'Bored,' I said, as I entered the Casablancas' living room, on Wednesday afternoon, only to see Dick working on a stack of paper on the table, coffee mug steaming on his right and his eyeglasses threatening to slide right off his nose from the tilt. He looked up and grinned at me and I immediately burst into laughter.

'What? What's so funny, Mackenzie?' he asked, taking his glasses off and taking a sip of his coffee.

'Truthfully, I just _never_ thought I'd see the day when Dick Casablancas was actually doing work. Or wearing glasses used_ for_ working.'

He looked amused as he said, 'well, take a picture if you truly don't believe that I actually do this now.'

'No I believe that you do it, I'm just trying to compare this working-class Dick to party-pig college animal Dick,' I said. He chuckled.

'Well, we're not eighteen anymore.'

I tutted, 'and what a shame that is, I mean, we were both in our prime back then.'

He gave me a stunned look. 'I was being sarcastic, Dick,' I said.

'Oh! Right, got it,' he said brightly. He put on his glasses again and turned back to his stack of papers. 'So, is there any reason why I am graced with your presence today, Miss Mackenzie?' he asked, looking up with a smile for a moment.

I took a seat at the table, 'Logan went out and I'm bored…'

'And you don't have _anything_ better to do? No hacking into federal emails or anything remotely computer-like?'

'Well I was just hoping to pay one of my best friends a visit…' he grinned up at me once again, 'and maybe ask for a favour?' I tried.

'Okay, I'll stop working, but only because I'm extremely curious…Phoenix Land Trust can wait for a while…what's up?'

'I need your help.'

* * *

**LILA**

'Hey where are you going?' came a voice from behind me. It was Friday afternoon and I was actually on my way to Mars Investigations, deciding against catching the bus in favor of a nice, healthy walk.

I turned around and grinned when I noticed JD jogging to catch up with me. By now, the buses had all left school and the majority of students were gone.

'Where are you headed, Mars? Isn't your apartment a bit far away for a stroll?'

'Mars Investigations,' I said. His mouth shaped into an "O."

'Well, can I carry your books then? I mean, I can't just let a pretty girl like yourself walk the streets by herself at four in the afternoon…do you know how many weirdos are hanging around at this time?' he joked.

'Well, you'd know,' I joked back.

JD put a hand over his heart, 'Ouch, that hurt. I'm wounded, I really am,' he said sarcastically. He reached forward and pried the books from my hand, after a small resist on my behalf.

'Are you sure you can walk with me? You don't have anything else that you should be doing?' I asked.

'Nope,' he grinned, 'My afternoon is completely free to be used as your very own walking, talking, book holding escort, as you walk the mean streets of Neptune,' he said sarcastically. I grinned, tucking some hair behind my ear.

'I forgot to thank you for your present,' I said after a while, turning to look at him. 'Thanks.'

'No problem. I hope you enjoy it anyway,' he said.

'I am,' I replied. In actual fact, I had been listening to his CD for the past two days, and to my surprise, it was actually quite good.

'So…Mars Investigations…cheating spouses, bail jumpers, long-lost relatives…' he joked sinisterly.

I laughed, 'actually, yeah, that's pretty much it. I've been helping my Pop out a bit lately…paperwork and that…'

'And it's given you a whole new stance on marriage, right? Men are the devil,' he laughed, not noticing how the mood had slightly changed.

We still hadn't discussed 'the kiss,' we hadn't mentioned it, or thought about it. Scratch that – of course I had thought about it, I couldn't speak for him of course, but I still wasn't sure how to categorize that one.

'Why? Are you planning on proposing?' I joked. I noticed that he stopped for a second, before replying, 'Yeah, actually, I was thinking…Vegas, in one of those ten minute cheap wedding extravaganzas!' he said, as equally sarcastic as I was. And then I realized what we were both doing.

Using jokes and sarcasm to avoid the real issue that we had.

I laughed. 'Talk about the scandal that would cause!'

'Yeah,' he agreed, with a chuckle. 'I'm trying out for the baseball team,' he said, looking at me with a sparkle in his eye after a moment's silence.

'Wow. That's great. Good luck,' I said.

'Thanks, I'll be needing it. I haven't played for…years and years, since like, little league.'

I laughed. 'We should go out to the cages sometime…I mean, I haven't played since little league either. Should be fun.'

'You played little league?' he asked.

'Hell yes I did! I was awesome!'

'Sure you were,' he said disbelievingly. 'But we should…it could be fun.'

'That's the spirit!' I said brightly. He laughed.

'Or maybe you should try out for pep squad!' he suggested, at which, I pretended to vomit on the sidewalk and he laughed.

'I think I'll pass.'

'So….' He said, after walking another block.

'So?'

'So…Michelle said something weird on Monday…' he began. I rolled my eyes. 'She said that somebody else told her that you were…making out with Alex Echolls.'

I sat out the mouthful of water that I was holding after taking a sip from my drink bottle and he gave me a small smile.

'What?' I asked incredulously.

He shrugged. 'Just what I heard!' he said, putting his arms up in surrender.

'Well, since Michelle is such a reliable source, what she says _must_ be true,' I said sarcastically. I turned to him. 'Look, I've spent the last few weeks being positive that Alex was…my half brother…that's just…just…'

'Ridiculous?' he supplied.

'That and just completely wrong,' I said. He grinned.

'She also seemed pretty convinced that you were dating Richie Casablancas,' he said and I shot him a glare. He chuckled. 'That's what I thought. I told her that I didn't believe her.'

'Well, thanks,' I said, with a slight blush.

'No problem. I just thought that you might like to know what she was saying. This is you, right?'

In my haze I hadn't noticed that we were now adjacent to the Mars Investigations building. 'Yeah, this is me. I'll see you tomorrow. And, thanks for walking me.'

He smiled, 'no problem. Have a good night, Lila,' he said, as he begun to walk away.

* * *

When I entered Mars Investigations, I called out to the empty room, but it seemed as if no one was at the office, which was weird. I settled myself into the receptionist's seat and prepared to turn on the computer, before realizing that it was already on.

The screen was on one of my mother's files, and I opened the window, it was filled with Logan Echolls' personal information and I smiled to myself. Mom so had the hots for Alex's dad.

In the next minute, the door opened suddenly, swinging loudly as my mom entered the room.

'Oh hey honey, what are you doing here?' she asked.

'It's Friday afternoon…takeaway night?' I reminded her.

'Friday already? This week's just flown by,' she said. I nodded my head, smirking at her. 'What?' she asked uncertainly. 'Is there lipstick on my teeth or something?' she asked.

I shook my head, still smirking at her, 'Nope.'

'What is it? Why are you smiling like that?' she asked.

'No reason,' I grinned. She looked at me suspiciously, but made her way into the adjoining kitchen. As soon as her back was turned, I broke out in a chorus of, 'Mom and Logan sitting in a tree, K –I –SS-I-N-G! First comes luuurve, then comes marriage…'

I turned the computer screen in her direction as she glared at me, a blush starting to show on her cheeks.

I know it was extremely elementary school of me, but I just couldn't resist, and anyway, the embarrassed glare of my mother made it all worthwhile.

She ran over to where I was and immediately closed the computer shut. 'It's a job.'

'Sure it is.'

'It is!' she insisted, but I wasn't buying it. 'So, I hear you were at the Sheriff's department at ONE in the morning the other week!' she said after a moment, changing the subject to something that would make _me _squirm. I immediately went stiff in my chair and looked at her sheepishly. She had adopted the "mother" pose, hands on hips, and death glaring at me.

'What are you talking about? Do you need to see a shrink? I have no idea what you're talking about,' I lied.

She cleared her throat, 'really? See, I had a nice chat to Eli Navarro today and he told me otherwise.'

'We were just sitting there! It's not like we were doing anything illegal! Ask Pop…where is Pop anyway?'

Mom looked momentarily at her father's closed office door. 'Out. Bail jumper in Colorado,' she replied. I was about to say something else in an effort to reassure her, when we were interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone.

She went out into the hall-way to answer it, and when she returned, ten minutes later, she had that "flushed" look, and I knew exactly who she had been talking to. I smirked at her as she tried to make her way into Pop's office.

'Logan?' I asked.

'Yep,' she answered quickly. My grin grew.

'Don't smirk at me like that!' she snapped. 'You remind me of your father when you do that.'

My grin immediately dropped. 'And he would be…?'

Mom considered me for a second, before shaking her head.

'You have to tell me! Do you not think I have a right to know?' I asked on the verge of yelling.

'Is it Logan?' I asked.

The expression on my mom's face completely changed. 'What? No! No, why would you think that, Lila?'

'I don't know! You haven't really given me much else to go by here, mom!' I said, and I noticed that this had turned into a full-fledged argument, complete with yelling. 'So is he? Is Logan Echolls my father?'

'No! Do you honestly think that I would have let you come to Neptune knowing that Logan had a teenage son?…that's just…' she said. I breathed a sigh.

'So who is he then; who's the lucky guy? Is it bachelor number two, Duncan Kane?!' I asked hysterically.

'What are you talking about Lila?' Mom asked loudly. 'How do you know about Duncan anyway?'

'Doesn't matter,' I said quietly. 'So is Duncan my dad?'

Mom took a visible breath and shook her head slowly, 'no. Duncan's not your father,' she said quietly, taking a seat on the couch.

I calmed down a little and took a seat next to her. 'Is it really that bad that you can't tell me?' I asked softly.

Mom nodded her head after a minute and said quietly, 'you wouldn't understand.'

'Understand what? Is he a criminal or something, is he married; is that it?' I asked. Mom shook her head again.

'What happened? Did he pull a knock and run on you or something?' I asked.

'What?' mom asked, her head rising up suddenly.

'He knocked you up and then ran,' I explained.

Mom shook her head, 'no. Your father has no idea that you even exist.'

I suddenly felt infuriated. How could my mother not even tell the father of her child that he was going to be a dad? 'Don't you think he has a right to know?' I cried.

Her eyes widened, already on the verge of spilling tears, 'no, Lila, he doesn't,' she replied soundly.

'What? Why? You have no right to keep a secret like this from someone…that's my dad! I had no opportunity to grow up with a father, and it's all your fault! You know that?' I yelled, standing up from the couch suddenly.

'I never had a happy childhood! I never played catch in the park with my dad like other kids did! I never got to travel via piggyback on my dad, like other kids! I never had that! And you know what mom, it's all your fault!' I yelled.

Mom now had tears running down her cheeks, but she wasn't making a sound. I had no sympathy for her right now, I was downright mad at her.

'My dad never read me a goodnight story, or tucked me into bed, I've never got to watch a baseball match with my old man, or, remember when I used to play little league?'

Mom nodded slowly.

'And you remember when _all_ the other kids dad's used to come and cheer on their kids, show them how to hold a bat and swing big?'

Mom nodded again.

'The only thing I ever thought about when I was there was how much I wished that one day, _my_ dad would come and throw balls for my to hit, or teach _me_ how to hold the bat. And I never got that; no matter how hard I wished,' I said a bit more quietly.

'And you know why? It's because of _you_ that I was miserable for all those years. I've never had a father and it's all your fault,' I yelled, feeling my own tears running down my cheeks.

'Fine…fine, you want to know who he is, you really want to know who your father is?' mom said quietly.

I nodded, wiping away some tears in the process, 'of course I do! What do you think I want?' I asked.

Mom ignored my last remark. 'You deserve better than him, Lila. He's an arrogant…'

I cut her off, 'that's your opinion. Let me judge for myself. Let me have this, mom, he's my fucking dad for god's sake!' I yelled suddenly. 'Tell me his name!

I stared at her intently for a moment, as she sat up a little bit straighter, taking time to wipe her own tears from her face. When she was done, she gave me a hard look, straight in my eyes.

'Don Lamb.'

* * *

**A/N Ta-da! The reveal. Don't hate me. Please don't hate me!**

**It was never in the plan for Logan to be Lila's father; actually, this is how this story started out…**

**Me – "haha, wouldn't it be funny if Lamb and Veronica had a daughter together?"**

**And it stemmed from there. And I led all of you guys on a wild goose chase! LOL. It was fun. (Don't hate me! Shields.)  
**

**So you probably don't want to read anymore in protest, but I'll just say that the road isn't smooth from now on, it's rocky. Rocky as hell. There will be no hint of Lamb/Veronica as a ship (apart from next chapter, which is entirely FLASHBACKS!) Also, hope for LoVe is still living! So stay tuned…**

**Just a question: whom do you prefer for Lila's love interest? JD, Richie, Alex, or even Andreas? Please tell me, I'm stuck!**

**Also, I thought of the most brilliant idea last night for coming chapters! It's even got me excited, so stay tuned…**

**Once again, apologies for the slow update, my life equals hectic.**

**It really is my birthday, so as a present, I'd like your review. Sound like a fair exchange?**

**Love you guys, you really are my fuel. (Even reading old reviews cheers me up when I've had a bad day ;)**

**Oh, and before I forget, congratulations to 09ergirl, Amy, Jess (kind of. lol), sodapop9, crimson (kinda.), problemchild1, Thelma, all of whom solved the mystery! (If I've left anyone out who deserves credit, hound me and you'll get your share.)**

**Peace.**


	15. Author's Note Beta Advertisement

Okay, so there is NOT a song by Fall Out Boy called Author's Note/Beta Advertisement, so obviously this is not an update - Sorry. More should be along soon.

I find myself in desperate need of a beta - so this is my shameless plug/advertisement for one.

I have so many crazy ideas bouncing around in my head about this story that I need to bounce them off someone else.

If you're interested, please, please, please send me a message or comment. I need your help! This story can't go any further until I get a beta, so please, if you _are_ interested, let me know ASAP.

BETA QUOTA 

- You don't need to be an expert in grammar and/or spelling because I'm pretty picky at that myself, but if you are, that's just a bonus.

- Someone who can put up with my nonsensical mutterings and crazy ideas, and tell me their honest opinions.

- Someone who has no hesitation inputting their own ideas and suggestions.

- Quick reader, and who can get back to me ASAP about my ideas.

- Basically, someone who can keep sending me reminders to actually WRITE!

If you meet the requirements, please message me.

Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, the next chapter is coming along nicely... already 4,000 odd words, which is more than I would usually write in a whole chapter, and I haven't even touched on what I wanted to, so it might take a little longer than usual, and be prepared for a long one!

Peace.


	16. Thnks Fr Th Mmrs

A/N Firstly, I'd just like to thank everyone who offered to beta for me - I think I had about 20 people ask about it, which was really overwhelming. And secondly, I'd like to offer my sincere apologies for the delay of this fic. This chapter has been a long time coming, and a bit of a rush, but it is like 18,000 odd words which is just crazy, so I hope that that compensates for the wait.

To my fantastic betas Mallikad and Ghostworld, who got to read the separate character's chapters months ahead of the rest of you guys. Sorry about that. But I couldn't have got it out without you, and I added Logan and Veronica just so you could be surprised. Any errors are my own.

The tenses have changed from "I" tenses to "you" tenses, I hope no one is too confused by that, but since this chapter is all in the past, I wanted it to be very different from the previous ones.

Enjoy! And I hope that no one is put off by the sheer length of it!

* * *

**20 YEARS EARLIER  
DICK**

'There's something I need to tell you,' says the girl at the door, the blonde one with a nice rack that you've been romping around with more and more these days. You think her name might be Stacey, or Samantha, or something starting with an S.

'Come in,' you say, opening the door a little wider and she walks into the suite hesitantly. 'So, what's up?' You ask, slumping down onto the couch.

She stands in front of you, playing with the sleeves of her shirt and you think that she looks genuinely _scared_. 'Um…'

'Wanna hook up? My next class is in, like, an hour, so…' you begin.

She bites her bottom lip, 'I'm pregnant.'

'Get a paternity test,' you say offhandedly.

'Already have,' she says, and she opens her handbag to bring out a manila envelope. 'You're the father, Dick,' holding out the envelope in your direction.

Momentarily, you can't speak. This is certainly something different for you. 'Let me look at it,' you say, and you reach out and take the envelope from her hands.

'I don't expect you to support me. I don't want your money, and I understand if you don't want anything to do with it – I just thought you had the right to know,' she says, while you're still reading the results. You look up.

'No, no I want to help…with whatever, you know,' you say, and you feel inwardly proud. That might just be one of the nicest things you've ever said.

Sophie (you remember her name) gives you a small smile. 'Um…okay, well, I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday.' You nod.

'I'll be there,' you say, and you surprise even yourself.

She smiles again, 'And I was thinking of moving back to Wisconsin, closer to my parents, you know…'

'Yeah,' you nod, still reeling from this little revelation.

The room is silent for a moment, before she speaks, 'I'll see you later then, Dick,' and she moves closer to the doorway. At this point, you get up from your frozen position on the couch and hold the door open for her. As soon as Sophie is gone, you sink against the wall and grab a fistful of your hair, holding your head in your hands.

Your life is about to change, and there's nothing you can do about it.

**3 MONTHS LATER (20 YEARS EARLIER)  
DICK**

'I guess this is goodbye then,' you say, looking at your best friend, who had just finished packing yet another box into your SUV.

'Guess so,' he replies quietly.

'Come and visit us…you know when Dick Jr is born,' you say, trying to lighten the mood with a grin.

'It's a girl, I can tell,' says Sophie, walking past you and patting her small stomach, which has grown little by little in the past few months. It's still not huge, but you can tell that she's pregnant. 'Mother's intuition,' she grins.

'It's a boy. Casablancas curse,' you argue.

She rolls her eyes. 'We'd better get going soon. I want to miss traffic before we get to Arizona.'

You nod, 'yeah, one moment,' and she walks back over to the passenger side of the car.

'So…' you say. This is kind of awkward.

'Good luck, man. You're a brave one, that's for sure,' Logan says with a small smile. You return it.

'Yeah, I guess. I mean, I'm scared shitless, but you get that, right?' You say, trying to mask your anxiety.

He nods, 'You'll be fine,' he says, and pats you on the shoulder. 'Keep in touch, and I'll come and visit you.'

'I will,' you promise with a smile. 'Are you going to be okay?'

He gives you a confused look, because Logan's never needed to be looked after, no, _you've_ always been the screw up, but in these last few months, you've been really trying, like _really_ trying to work your shit out, so you don't screw up your kid's life as much as your own.

'Of course you'll be okay!' you grin, and he returns it. 'And without me, you'll have the suite all to yourself, free to be Echolls' love nest, right?'

He rolls his eyes, 'yeah, right,' he agrees half-heartedly.

'Ronnie will love it, without me around cramping you guy's style.'

He shakes his head, 'we're not together and you know it. It's been almost a year now.'

Sophie toots the horn impatiently from the car and yells something angrily.

'Hormones,' you grin. You place a hand on Logan's shoulder, 'dude, you'll sort your shit out, I know you will,' you say confidently. 'I gotta go.'

He nods, and you jog around to the driver's seat.

'Drive safe, Dick. I'll see you,' he says, as he gives you a wave, 'Sophie,' he farewells, and he gives the hood of the car a tap as he walks away.

**6 MONTHS LATER (ALMOST 19 YEARS EARLIER)  
DICK**

'Congratulations, Mr. Casablancas, it's a boy,' says the doctor happily as he enters the waiting room that you've been sitting in for the last seven hours, eventually being joined by Sophie's parents.

'A boy!' Says Sophie's mom, Glenda happily.

'Can I see them?' you ask the doctor, and he nods, 'go ahead,' he answers, and you practically sprint down to Sophie's room.

'Hey,' she greets you tiredly when you enter. She sounds so weak, and you're not really surprised.

'Hey,' you reply. 'So, a boy… Hate to say, I told you so,' you say with a grin.  
She hits you on the shoulder, but it's so weak that you just grab her hand and rub reassuring circles on the skin there.

'Name him, then,' she says, and you remember the wager that you had with Sophie; if it was a boy (like you predicted) you got to name him, but if it was a girl (like she predicted) she would name her.

You shake your head, 'no, you can name him,' you say nicely.

Both of your attention is averted as a jolly nurse walks in with a bundle of blankets, 'Miss Bellmore, congratulations,' she said with a wide smile as she hands the blankets over to Sophie. 'Have you two decided on a name yet?' she asks after a moment.

You can't speak, you're dazed by the little baby that is sleeping inside the blankets, and you know that this sounds cliché, and totally like a chick, but you truly have never seen anything so beautiful, and all you can think about is how hard you're going to try to not screw his life up.

'That's nice,' says the nurse and you've missed something.

'Huh?' you ask.

'I said, "Richard Casablancas the third," is that going to be a problem?' Sophie asks.

And you don't even bother correcting her that it should be "Richard Casablancas the fourth," you are just so proud and happy that you reply, 'perfect,' with a smile.

'Where is the little guy, then?' asked Ron, Sophie's dad, as he enters the hospital room with his wife, who is taking pictures madly with a camera.

'He's so gorgeous, Soph,' Glenda gushes, and Sophie just grins at you.

And this is probably the best moment of your life so far.

**19 YEARS AND SEVERAL MONTHS EARLIER  
DICK**

Your relationship was always doomed, that was a given. There was no love there, you both just stuck around for Richie's sake.

You got along with her parents really well; although, they initially disliked you immensely for knocking up their only daughter, they appreciated that you stuck by her, and supported her both emotionally and financially throughout all this time.

A few months before, when most of the remainder of your trust fund had been spent on a new apartment, big enough for Sophie, Richie, and yourself, furnishings, and diapers, you decided that you needed a job.

Neither of you had finished college, but you didn't particularly feel like returning to school. So, when Kendall's (as in your ex-stepmom, Kendall) body had been found in the desert, and her last will and testament was read declaring Richard Casablancas the third (which was you) as her sole benefactor, you couldn't have been more surprised. This also meant that your brother's old franchise, Phoenix Land Trust, was now yours.

Of course, PLT hadn't been operating for several years, but it also meant that the properties that were still owned by the company's values had skyrocketed.

You made a decision to reopen the company, and you even tracked down Cindy Mackenzie to help you out with it a little. I mean, she did help Cassidy with it, and she was quite smart.

Initially, she was surprised to hear from you, but when she realized just how much you'd changed, she was happy to help…for a fee of course.

So, things were good, you had Richie and the Phoenix Land Trust, and even a new friend in Mac.

Sophie became more and more distant as time went on; not only to you, but to Richie as well. You noticed that she didn't spend much time with the baby, and she was just generally unhappy.

You had known that she suffered from post-natal depression, but you had no idea to what degree until one morning you woke up, and Sophie was nowhere to be seen. Her closet had been cleaned out, all of her possessions were gone, and her car wasn't in the garage.

You found her note on the end-table in the living room that morning. It read;

_Dick,  
I'm sorry. I never meant to run out on you or Richie.  
The truth is, I haven't been truly happy since I got pregnant.  
You know that I love him, and I don't mean to hurt you, or him, but I can't stay any longer.  
I've given up the rest of my life for this baby, and I can't handle that. I'm only 20 years old and I already have a son. I'm sorry, I know I'm a selfish person, but I want to actually live my life.  
We never loved each other. You've been my best friend for this past year and a bit. I love you for sticking around and supporting us; it just proves how much of a great man that you are, Dick.  
You are a good, loving dad to Richie. And I think you will raise him to be a good kid as well.  
Once again, I'm sorry. I just can't do this anymore. I love you both, and I'm sorry.  
Soph_

You scrunched the note up into a paper ball the first time you read it, muttering, 'that fucking bitch.' Not because she left you, but because she left the baby. How would it be to grow up without a mother? You'd done it for a long time, and look at how screwed up you were.

After you'd calmed down a little bit more, you opened the piece of paper back up, smoothing all the crinkles out. After studying it for several minutes more, you decided that you couldn't really blame her.

But you still had no idea when, or if she was ever coming back, so you continued to live your life, and look after the baby like she would be back, even though she never did return.

You decided to stay in Wisconsin and keep close to her parents, who were more like your own parents by now. They didn't understand Sophie's behavior and apologized for it.

Over time, you forgave Sophie, and when you were satisfied that she was not coming back, you left Wisconsin with an old friend of yours and headed back to Neptune.

* * *

**18 YEARS EARLIER  
WALLACE**

'Hearst on three,' says the coach, and the team moves to put their hands into the middle of the huddle, 'one, two, three.'

'Hearst!' You all yell, and you can hear the crowd joining in. In what was quite possibly the best win that you've had all season; the team, and the coach couldn't be happier.

'Great game, Wallace,' says Paul Laufer as he pats you on the back.

'Thanks man, good rebound, you saved the game,' you reply, and he shrugs. Plenty more people come over to offer their congratulations before a familiar voice breaks through the other noise on the court.

'On fire, Air Fennel,' it says, and you are already smiling before you turn around and face your best friend. You swoop in to hug her, but she ducks out of your reach.

'Woah there, beware the sweat-age,' she jokes, and this time you do engulf her in a bone-crunching hug, and you can tell that she is ignoring the sweat and not joking about it because she's Veronica Mars, and you're Wallace Fennel, and no excessive sweat is about to get in the way of your friendship.

'You made it!' You say brightly, after you break apart and she nods in reply. 'I said I would. And I'm glad I did; you're a superstar, Wallace Fennel!'

'Well…what can I say?' you start to joke, but a tall man interrupts you both. He is dressed in a clean, neat looking business suit, and you immediately know that the only people who show up to a college basketball game dressed like that are talent scouts.

'Mr. Fennel?' he asks in a booming voice. You nod enthusiastically, as Veronica shoots you an excited look and a wave before sauntering out of your way. 'I'm Gregory Anderson, from the New York Knicks,' he shakes your hand vigorously and you can't believe for a moment that this is happening to you.

You smile, 'Really?' and you immediately scold yourself for saying the first stupid thing that came to your mind.

He chuckles, 'really. We've been keeping an eye on you, and we would be interested to conduct an interview with you at a later stage.'

Your eyes widen. This has to be too good to be true; you might be playing NBA basketball soon enough. Mr. Anderson takes something from his chest pocket and hands it to you, 'this is my card. Call me in the morning, and we'll organize something, okay?' You nod, and he gives you a grin and a wink as he walks away.

This could definitely be the start of a new chapter in your life, you muse as you watch him walk away. College will be all over in a few months, and already here is an offer for your big break, what you've always wanted to do. You can't help but smile and imagine yourself playing in front of huge crowds in no time. Once an unreachable childhood dream, now, finally, maybe a reality.

**ALMOST 17 YEARS EARLIER  
WALLACE**

As you pass to one of your teammates; none other than the one and only Rashard Rucker, in fact, you swear that you see a familiar face; but the game moves too fast before you can stop to have a proper look.

At half time, instead of focusing on what the coach has to say, you're facing the crowd, trying to see whether you just had a strange hallucination, or she was actually real.

'Fennel, are you listening to me?' you faintly hear. 'Fennel!' The coach says angrily and it takes an elbow in the chest from Rashard for you to turn around.

'Sorry coach,' you reply and he glares at you.

'Mind on the game, Fennel, or you're going to lose it for all of us…. Jesus, sometimes you newbie's…' he mutters, before plunging back into his usual half time speech.

As you reenter the court after the break, you see her again, and you are so positive that it's her that you would be prepared to swear it on your life. But, then the game starts and your attention is averted…but not really, because you keep making minor mistakes because your mind is on her rather than on other important things…like the game!

When the final siren sounds to announce the end of the match; the rest of your teammates huddle in together, to celebrate your win. But not you.

You immediately walk towards the other side of the court, near the section where she was sitting, and you see her walking away, so you jog across, and jump over the small fencing that separates the seating from the court before she can get away. And you know that you look completely ridiculous, and you haven't seen her for…years, and this is completely crazy, but you can't help yourself.

'Jackie!' You yell, and it takes you two more yells (and several more glares, and fans asking for your autograph) before she turns around. By this time, you're about a meter away from her and your chest is heaving from making your way up those steps so quickly.

A wide smile quickly covers her face and for a moment, you both just smile at each other.

'Mom! It's Wallace Fennel!' says a boy at her leg, as he pulls at her clothes, trying to get her attention.

'I know,' she says simply, looking at you the whole time. 'Wallace, this is my son, Tim.'

'You're my favorite player!' he says enthusiastically, and you can't help but chuckle when you notice that he's wearing a Knicks Jersey with your name and number on it.

You give Jackie another smile before bending down a little, so you're level with the boy. 'Really? That's cool. Maybe we could shoot some hoops sometime.'

Tim's eyes widen, 'really?' he asks incredulously.

'Sure…I mean, if it's alright with your mom,' you say, and he looks up at Jackie.

'Mom?' he asks.

'It's good to see you again,' she says brightly, after nodding at Tim in answer to his question.

'You too,' you agree.

'Great game, by the way. I can't believe you're in the NBA, that's amazing! Congratulations, Wallace,' she says, and you love the way that her smile reaches her eyes when she talks.

'Can I have your autograph?' Tim asks, interrupting you.

'Oh, sure,' you say, and you take the texta from his hand and quickly scrawl your signature on his back.

'Awesome!' he remarks, and Jackie giggles. 'You really are his favorite player, you know,' after a moment she sighs, 'and I'd better be getting him home. He won't be able to sleep now,' she smiles.

'Sorry about that,' you say.

'Bye,' they both say, and before you know it, they are walking away.

'Wait!' you yell, and Jackie turns around with a grin on her face. 'I want to see you again!'

Jackie rolls her eyes and you walk back up some more stairs to meet her again, 'here's my number. Please call me. Let's have coffee sometime…or whatever,' you shrug as you hand her a slip of paper with your digits on them.

'Coffee sounds good,' she says. 'I'll see you around, Wallace,' she waves.

And you don't care that later on the coach is going to yell at you for just leaving after the game and not sticking around for interviews, or the post game wrap up (made by the coach himself) because Jackie Cook is back in your life, and you're going out with her for coffee in the not too distant future.

**14 YEARS EARLIER  
WALLACE**

'And in flies the aero plane. Whoooooosh; open up, Taylor,' you say, directing a spoon into the infant's mouth as she moves around in the high chair contently.

You can feel Jackie's eyes on you the whole time and sure enough, when you turn around, she's standing right behind you with one hand on her hip and an extremely amused look on her face.

'What?' you ask, turning back to the baby and wiping some goo from her mouth.

Jackie giggles, 'just "Wal" Fennel baby talking, that's all,' she says with a grin.

You turn around, eyebrow raised, 'and, what, do you doubt my baby talking abilities …and we're using basketball names now?'

Jackie nods, 'yes we are, "Wal."'

'That's it!' you say, stepping up from your kneeling position next to the high chair and chasing Jackie around the kitchen until you finally catch up to her, pulling her close, 'now, Jackie Fennel, are you going to continue, because I could baby talk all night long,' you tease.

She giggles, and you pull her close and begin to give your wife a passionate kiss.

'MOM! DAD! That's disgusting!' Yells a voice from the stairs. It's Tim and he sounds revolted by the sight.

You immediately stop kissing Jackie, and she becomes alerted by your frozen position, 'Wallace?'

'Tim just…he called me dad,' you say slowly.

'Well, look at that, he did,' she replies with a smile.

'Thought that might get your attention…dad,' says Tim, and you turn around, seeing that your stepson has resumed your previous position of feeding the baby.

You turn back around and simply smile at your wife, who is beaming back. Tim just called you dad, for the first time, and certainly not the last.

'Now open your pie-hole, Taylor. Here comes the plane,' Tim says behind you, lifting the spoon to his half-sister's mouth.

Taylor wriggles in her chair, eventually taking the spoon and consuming the contents of it. Her hands reach out, as if wanting something and she speaks, which usually is just toddler mumbling, but at that moment, it actually sounds like a real word, 'da. Da. Da-da.' She repeats again and again.

Jackie looks astonished, and you can't help but smirk.

'That's right Taylor, da-da. Now open your pie-hole again. Here comes the jumbo jet!' Tim says, loading the spoon with twice the amount of food as last time.

'So, which do you prefer; Wallace, Wal, dad, or da-da?' Jackie asks, kissing your cheek.

And to be honest, you don't have an answer to her question, you're momentarily at a loss of words, and it's for a good reason.

**10 YEARS EARLIER  
WALLACE**

You stare down at the headline of the paper anxiously again, maybe for the fiftieth time that morning.

_Jane Doe: New Identification Clues_

And the story has been all over the news in the past few weeks; unidentified woman in her late 20s, early 30s is found in a dumpster, murdered. The amazing thing is that she hasn't been identified as of yet.

The thing that bothers you; she meets the description of a very old friend of yours, a friend so old that you haven't kept in touch with her since about five months after you arrived in New York – after that time, there were no more phone calls, emails, or visits. What happened exactly, you have no idea. You tried to get in contact with her, you really did, but to no avail, every single time there would be no answer, a wrong number, or she had moved away, to a place where no one (not even her own father) knew her exact address.

5'1, blonde female with blue/grey eyes – but the only words you heard when this description was broadcast were _Veronica Mars_.

As Jackie enters the dining room, breaking you from your reverie, she spares a look at the newspaper and opens her mouth as if to say something, but at the last minute, closes it.

'I'm thinking about heading down to the morgue,' you say, and Jackie looks at you with sympathy in her eyes.

'Wallace,' she begins, but you cut her off.

'I need to know, Jackie, I mean, she was my best friend…I just…I need to know.'

'There are hundreds, even thousands of women who would match that description, Wallace…why don't you…why don't you concentrate on something else for a little while?' she asks brightly, sliding across the letter from LA, saying that now your basketball career as a player has ended, how happy they'd be for you to be an assistant coach back there.

'I can't look at that right now,' you say, not sparing the document a glance as you push it back towards your wife, who looks disappointed, but determined.

After a moment's silence, Jackie perks up, 'I know!' she says brightly, and she leaves the room temporarily, returning with a phone book and a phone, dialing a number as she copies it from the book.

She hands you the phone, and as soon as you place it next to your ear, you hear a voice, 'Keith Mars,' it announces.

You take a deep breath, 'Mr. Mars, hi, it's Wallace here. Wallace Fennel.'

* * *

It was a short conversation, and you could almost tell that Mr. Mars was holding something back from you when he announced that he had spoken to Veronica last night. He had given you her new number, saying that she was living in Boston now, and that she would probably like to hear from you.

You wanted to retort that she obviously didn't, otherwise she would have kept in touch, but you kept that comment to yourself.

At least she was alive. That was all that mattered.

You sat at the dining table for twenty minutes afterwards, thinking about all the possibilities of what might have happened to Veronica Mars before you slide the letter from LA back towards yourself.

You consider it for the first time; you could move back to Neptune, be closer to your mom, and Jackie's dad. She'd probably like that. A nice big house with a backyard would be better suited to the kids rather than the huge apartment that you were all living in at the moment.

'Dad!' Came Taylor's voice as she entered the dining room, dressed in her school uniform and heaving a book bag onto the table.

'What can I do for you, Taylor?' you ask with a grin.

'Can you help me with my math homework?' she asks, giving you a wobbly smile, in which, some of her teeth are missing, and you can't help but smile at it and nod, even as she makes her way over to you with her book bag.

And if you pinpoint the exact moment when you make the decision to move back to Neptune; it would be at that particular moment.

* * *

**20 YEARS EARLIER  
WEEVIL**

When your parole ended, the summer in which the majority of your classmates would be starting their second year of college, the only thought in your mind was that you needed to get out of Neptune.

It was never supposed to be like this, you were never supposed to wind up alone. You thought that you'd be riding your bike around the streets of Neptune and wrecking havoc for many more years to come.

But then Felix was dead, Thumper was a traitor, and everyone else ditched you because they thought that _you_ had betrayed them. When they learned the truth, they wanted you back, wanted your friendship back.

You didn't believe in much; certainly not love, love was dead, love had died on October 3rd, 2004, or so you thought at the time. You believed in friendship until Felix, your best friend, was murdered on the Coronado Bridge. You thought that your gang were still there; until, you learned that they weren't and Thumper had killed Felix, and then friendship was dead too.

There wasn't much left for a guy who had barely graduated high school, and had been charged with manslaughter. You guessed that Veronica was there – but she wasn't. You thought that your friendship was all right, but then she would accuse you of whatever crime was happening at the time. What you would never understand – how she could continue to blame you and assume that _you _were the bad guy, when she thought that the sun shone out of Echolls ass. You were pretty sure that he had hurt her more in the past few years, rather than you, but you were still the one getting blamed.

When your grandmother died that summer, and you realized that the only person who you stayed in Neptune for was Veronica Mars, you split, ended up in Chino, where more of 'your people' lingered.

You spent your nights holed up in the same bar, playing pool, and having 'casual' conversations with the more notorious figures of the underground. You weren't in very deep, just deep enough to have some connections, and earn some cash.

After about six or seven months of doing virtually the same thing; running drugs, bookkeeping, gambling, and more explicit activities that probably weren't considered "honorable," you were sitting at a table in the corner of the "Lucky13," your usual drinking spot with two of the other cronies that you had gotten pretty friendly with, Shakes and Cam, planning your next shift; when something, or rather, someone caught your eye.

You were pretty familiar with the barmaids and waitresses at the 13, and by familiar, you meant that you had slept with most of them, but the one that was currently talking to Francesca behind the bar was very un-familiar. She was curvy with a nice figure, which was only highlighted with her skimpy tank top and short skirt, and she had long, dark, wavy hair that reached all the way down her back, only complimenting the color of her dark, Mexican skin.

'Theresa, is she new?' you ask a passing waitress, who was on her way back to the bar, carrying a tray full of empty glasses. You point to the un-familiar woman.

'Oh yeah, that's the new girl,' she smiles. 'She seems nice, I guess,' Theresa replies as she walks away.

You keep watching the new girl as Francesca tells her something, and you realize that she is hot, seriously hot.

Later on, after you're on your sixth drink of the night (your secret plan being that the new girl will collect the empty glasses; which has, as yet, failed).

You almost choke as the new girl saunters over to your table, tea towel slung lazily over her shoulder as she carries the drinks tray.

'Can I get you boys anything else?' she asks, scooping up your glass. Your eyes meet for a second, and you realize just how familiar she actually is.

Her eyes widen as she recognizes you too. 'Eli?'

'Carmen?' You ask, almost incredulously as her tone.

'What are you doing here?' she asks with a grin.

'What are_ you _doing here?' you ask, and you see that she doesn't really get your intended question, "What are you doing here, waitressing in a seedy bar like this?"

'I'm a barmaid,' she replies, 'yeah, I got the job yesterday,' she says, almost embarrassed.

'Well this is my favorite bar, so I guess I'll be seeing you around a bit?' you say.

She nods, 'yeah, I guess,' she looks back and involuntarily twitches, 'well, I'd better actually do my job. I don't want to get fired…'

'Yeah,' you reply, and she gives you a shy wave as she walks back.

'She was hot. How do you know her?' Shakes asks, as soon as Carmen disappears around the back.

'High school,' you say, taking a drag on your beer.

'You did high school?' asks Cam incredulously. And yes, folks, that really is what the "average" person would ask around here. You nod in answer to his question.

When the bar closes, you head around the back and have a cigarette before you go home, same as usual, when the backdoor of the kitchen swings open loudly. You look up and Carmen is walking towards you.

'You would be my hero if you gave me one of those right now,' she says, motioning to the cigarette packet. You hand it over wordlessly. 'Okay, it's official, you are my hero, Eli,' she smiles.

'No problem. Where's your car?' you ask, motioning to the empty staff car park.

Carmen looks down at the ground, inhaling her cigarette, 'I don't have one.'

'How are you getting home?' You ask.

'I'll walk,' she answers.

'I'll go with you,' you hear yourself say, and she looks up at you gratefully before she starts to walk down the alley, you follow behind before catching up to her.

'Where are you living?'

'Um…Warnecke?' she says, like it's a question. You almost choke on your smoke.

'Warnecke? Are you serious?' You ask. Warnecke is the roughest area around. Even you wouldn't go there without a bulletproof vest and a bodyguard.

She nods in answer to your question. 'It's only temporary…it's all I could afford,' she says sheepishly.

'How'd you end up in Chino, and working at the 13?' you ask.

She throws her cigarette butt to the ground and squashes it before looking up at you, 'things just…didn't work out…life,' she shrugs, but you can hear the disappointment in her voice. 'The 13 is just a job. It doesn't pay too badly I guess.'

'I thought you were at UCLA?' you ask.

'Yeah, I was,' she says quietly. 'Look, I think I can find my own way home from here,' she says, turning to you.

'No way! No way in hell, am I going to let you walk around here alone.'

She smiles at you, and you didn't know it at the time, but you walk her home from work every night for a few months.

**THREE MONTHS LATER (20 YEARS EARLIER)  
WEEVIL**

'I think you should come and live with me,' you say two months later, tossing Carmen the local paper, which headline announces the "gang war" currently going on in Warnecke, where a drive-by shooting occurred in the neighborhood earlier that week.

Carmen sighs, 'Eli…'

'I'm not taking no for an answer. Tonight we'll go get your stuff,' you say and she simply nods. 'Thank you.'

You've faced the reality now that Carmen is your only friend in this town. She is the only person who knows you as yourself, and not as Weevil, the petty criminal.

**TWO MONTHS LATER (20 YEARS EARLIER)  
WEEVIL**

'What have you got planned tonight?' you ask Carmen, as she hands you a plate of bacon and eggs, one of the many types of "actual food" that you've become accustomed to eating on a regular basis since she's moved in with you.

Carmen sits down with her own plate, still in her pajamas, a tight top and short shorts that make it hard for you to concentrate on anything else sometimes. She shrugs, 'I was thinking of going out with some of the girls from work…but we'll see what happens.'

'Whereabouts are you headin'?' you ask.

She gives you an amused quizzical look. 'Why do you care?'

'Nah, just…some of those girls can be pretty…'

'Pretty what? Involved with one Eli Navarro?' she asks with something that sounds suspiciously like a giggle accompanying her question. You almost choke on your bacon.

'Carm, it's –'

She cuts you off, 'okay, Eli. Really. I'm not one to listen to workplace gossip anyway.'

'I'm afraid to ask.'

'And you should be…some of the stories I've heard about you…' she gives you a playful grin, one that is so adorable that all you want to do is pin her down and kiss her, but, then you remind yourself that this is Carmen Ruiz, your best friend Carmen, and why would you want to waste the best thing that has happened to you since you left Neptune for one kiss?

* * *

'Yo, Weevil, what the hell are we doing here?' asks Cam from your left. You shush him.

'I told you…security,' you answer and he shakes his head, 'if you don't want to be here then leave! I got it anyway.'

'You got it?'

You nod, 'yeah, man.'

'If you had it, then why have we been stalking _it_ since _it's _fine ass left the 13?' he asks, and you have to give him some credit. You never thought that Cam was smart enough to memorize his two-times-tables let alone figure out your grand plan.

But then again, it was never much of a "grand plan" to begin with. Follow Carmen and make sure she's okay. Some of the waitresses at the 13 can be a little rough, and you wouldn't want Carmen to get into that crowd.

'I gotta go, man, Rico's got a deal tonight and he needs an extra runner, and I could use the extra cash, ya know?'

'Yeah, I know. Thanks for tagging along anyway,' you say, as you watch his retreating back in the streetlight.

By the time Cam's gone and you've turned back to the seedy atmosphere of the backyard shindig that's going on at some sleaze's joint, you've lost sight of Carmen.

'Fuck it!' you curse to yourself.

'Why Eli Navarro, I am appalled!' comes a voice from your other side (the blind spot.) And, sure enough, Carmen walks into the light a moment later, hands on her hips and sporting a rather smug look on her face.

'Carm…I…' Your hand finds its way to the back of your head, rubbing the back of your neck (it's a nervous habit.)

She gives you another look, raising one eyebrow, a look that just dares you to try and explain yourself; she moves a little bit closer.

'Well, you see…I…Rico was…well…we got lost and I…'

'Eli. Shut up,' is all that she says before she wraps her hands around the back of your neck and kisses you passionately.

**THREE YEARS LATER (17 YEARS EARLIER)  
WEEVIL**

As you walk wearily up the front stairs of your house, you can already see the silhouette of Carmen, arms crossed and waiting for you. This can't be good, you think to yourself.

'I've been waiting for you,' she says simply.

'I can see,' you stay a few paces away from Carmen, and subsequently, your front door. 'What's going on?'

'This is what's going on,' she says, as she holds something up for you to see. You lean forward and recognize it to be a concrete slab – brick of some description. 'Thrown through the front window this afternoon.'

You immediately go into panic mood, 'Are you okay? What happened? Are the boys alright?'

'We're fine, Eli. Angel managed to fix the window in about an hour. No damage done…yet.'

'Okay, what are you talking about?' you ask confusedly.

'You cannot be serious!' She says loudly and exasperatedly. 'It's the gang! The motorbikes, the drug runs, the gambling, the guns! It's everything. Someone is going to get hurt, or killed one of these days.'

'Did they threaten you? If they said something…or did something, you tell me Carm, and I'll kill 'em.'

'No. They didn't do anything…apart from this!' she said, shaking the brick angrily in her hand. 'What if one of the twins was sleeping in the lounge? We could have been killed. They could have been killed!'

Carmen wasn't an emotional person, but you could sense that she was on the brink of tears. After all, you were both like that when it came to the welfare of your sons.

'Alright, I'll get out of it,' you say, taking another step towards Carmen and cupping her cheek in your hand, rubbing it tenderly, 'we'll head back to Neptune.'

She looks up at you hopefully, 'really?'

'You want to right, I mean, to be closer to your dad?' you ask. Last month Carmen's dad was diagnosed with some kind of cancer, and although she's never said anything, you know she's been pining for her parents.

She nods, 'thank you, Eli. Thank you so much,' she says, kissing you gently on the lips.

'Hell, maybe we could even actually tie the knot, make it all official… your parents might like me better then.'

'They like you just fine now,' she countered before grabbing your hand and leading you into the house.

* * *

**18 YEARS EARLIER  
MAC**

'This isn't right,' you say. Veronica gives you a confused look from the other end of the table.

'What?' she asks.

'This,' you say, motioning to the table of your apartment, the table which contains a wine bottle, two half-full glasses of red wine and two blocks of chocolate, one for each of you.

'Excuse yourself, Miss Mackenzie, but this sort of practice is highly acceptable for college graduates like ourselves. Two women having a glass of wine and sharing some chocolate between themselves… nothing unusual about that at all,' she said, as if trying to convince herself.

'You and Logan broke up?' you ask.

Veronica nods before taking a long sip of wine and standing up, walking into the small kitchenette that adjoins the "dining room," if you could even call it that. 'For good this time,' she says, and you almost spit out the contents of alcohol in your mouth.

'Seriously,' she adds, with a glare in her eye, and it's so believable that even you are semi-convinced.

'Alright,' you say. She comes back to the table and takes her seat, dropping a large-sized piece of chocolate into her mouth. 'Do you want to… talk about it?'

Veronica shakes her head, 'what's there to talk about, really? It's just…'

'Are you sure you're okay?'

'Fine,' she says, looking up at you with a forced smile, and although you know that your friend is not "fine," you refrain from commenting, knowing that she, like you, doesn't like to talk a lot about your relationships, and you think that even if she did, even you wouldn't be able to understand her and Logan. They are too complicated, so you should be thankful in a way.

'And what about you?' she asks, looking at you all wide-eyed.

'What about me?' you ask, putting a piece of chocolate into your mouth, and biting down viciously.

'What happened?' she asks softly, and you immediately stop playing the "I'm completely fine/there's nothing at all wrong with me, or bothering me" card because, even though the two of you are masters of disguising your feelings, you've always been able to read each other like a book.

You sigh, 'Parker came to see me the other day…and she…wasn't alone.'

You pause and you can see Veronica wanting answers, 'well, who was she with, Santa Claus?'

'She was with Bronson…they're getting married.'

'That's great!' Veronica starts, before she sees your face, 'Isn't it?'

'No- I mean yeah, of course it's good. But I just…She didn't even tell me they were dating! She's my best friend, and he's my ex… they were dating and I didn't even know! They're freaking engaged!'

'Mac, take a chill pill. Didn't you break up with Bronson…like, three years ago?' You nod in answer to the question. 'You never told me you still had feelings for him.'

'I don't!' You immediately say. 'It's not like that. They – she's my best friend!'

Veronica ponders for a moment, before speaking, 'did Parker say why she didn't tell you sooner?'

You nod, 'something about how she wanted to wait before she told people, to make sure it wasn't just a "fling" and that she actually had feelings for him. They tried to smooth it over by using the whole "you're the first person we've told about our engagement" ploy.'

'Ahhhh! Yes, that ploy,' Veronica says jokingly. You glare at her, and she laughs. 'Well, it seems like a valid reason. Why does it bother you so much?'

'It shouldn't…I know I should be happy for her – for them…but I mean, they're traveling the world to conquer animal cruelty, and I'm staying here…Ever since Max,' you begin to say, but Veronica immediately cuts you off at the mention of Max's name.

'Don't even begin with him!' she says, pointing a wearily finger at you. 'It was so not your fault that that…loser…Urgh. Let's not even talk about that. You were too good for that jerk anyway, Mac. You deserve much better,' she says, reaching over the small table and grabbing your hand, trying to be sympathetic.

'I'm not "even beginning with that." I'm over it. I just can't believe I wasted two and a half years of my life with him, that's all,' you say. 'Anyway, he's back with that hooker girlfriend of his.'

'Wendy?'

'That's the one.'

'I actually didn't mind Wendy…she was quite nice, sweet,' Veronica stops at the look on your face yet again and her tone changes, 'sorry. Wasn't appropriate for this kind of conversation,' she pauses for a moment, 'So, what are you going to do, Mac Attack?'

'Tonight, I plan on getting completely plastered…and yourself?'

'I think I'll pass,' you give Veronica a quizzical look, and she explains, 'last Tuesday night, the bar on the corner of Fifth and Vermont; just ask about the blonde's rendition of "Love Will Tear Us Apart."'

'Nice, classy, really sums up your relationship,' you joke.

Veronica nods embarrassedly, 'yeah, but, in my defense, it seemed like a good idea at the time.'

'That's what they all say,' you joke. 'What are you going to do?'

'Stay here. FBI boot camp begins in what? Six months? I think I'll just help my dad out for a while.'

'See, and that's what I like about you, Veronica, you've got it all figured out.'

She snorts, 'I don't think so. And did you start drinking early this afternoon? Because I don't think I've ever heard the Mac that I know say anything like that before in her life.'

'I spoke to my mom.'

Veronica nods her head slowly, not really seeing the meaning behind your random statement. 'Mrs. Sinclair,' you add.

'Oh. Well…what did she say?'

'That she was sorry. She explained everything, said that she was proud of me for what I've accomplished…the website and all that.'

'She knows about the website?'

'Yeah, apparently Logan's a better publicist than I give him credit for,' you say, immediately apologizing to your friend, who twitches at the sound of her ex-boyfriend's name.

'No. I'm sorry,' she says back.

'What for?'

'Well, it's going to be harder for you guys to make decisions and "hang out" now that he's gone,' Veronica says sheepishly.

'Not your fault.'

She raises one eyebrow, 'oh yeah, and how do you figure that?'

You shrug, 'Logan's always wanted to leave Neptune after college.'

'He never mentioned that to me,' she says quietly, and for a moment, you almost feel bad because maybe, just maybe, you know Logan is a little better than Veronica; after all, you guys have spent quite a bit of time together recently, getting your website off the ground with his financial backing that is sure to add to the already growing pile of money that currently waits in your bank account.

You shrug, 'I'm pretty sure he was going to see Dick and commence their grand surfing trip.'

'This mythical "mature" Dick that you are now friends with?' Veronica asks almost amusedly.

'Hey! If you actually came with me next time I go to Wisconsin, maybe you can meet him for yourself…there's a cuddly baby involved,' you say with a grin.

'Well, if there's a cuddly baby…' Veronica jokes, before her demeanor changes, 'but seriously, how is Dick holding up? I heard about Sophie,' she says tenderly.

'He's good. Dating Erica Sullivan from what I gathered, last time I spoke to him-'

'Wait, Erica Sullivan?' Veronica asks incredulously, 'like, the supermodel?'

'The very same.'

'Well, consider my mind temporarily blown, and to think that Dick had that much game. I never knew…I mean he did date Madison Sinclair,' she yawned, 'bed. Goodnight. Don't stay up too late, and don't do anything I wouldn't!' she says, motioning to the three-quarter full wine bottle.

'Well, actually, I think that my drunken song choice is much better than yours. What do you think of "Roxanne"? I mean, he did buy her out of prostitution,' you say, referring to that asshole Max and his whore.

'Goodnight, Mac,' says Veronica, before walking into her room.

**ONE YEAR LATER (17 YEARS EARLIER)  
MAC**

'Mac!' says Parker, spotting you and eagerly enveloping you in a hug.

'Hey Parker, how are you?'

'Great! Fantastic! We're really good!' she says happily, and you can see Bronson making his way towards you with their luggage in tow.

'Hi Mac,' he greets, with a smile on his face. 'Thanks for meeting us.'

'No problem,' you say, taking one of the suitcases from Bronson and leading the couple, who you can see out of the corner of your eye, holding hands and grinning (idiotically) at each other to the other side of the airport.

When you're all crammed into your precious beetle, which (to be completely honest) is getting a little run-down these days, but you mainly keep it for sentimental value. One of the few good memories of high school (one of the few that doesn't include Cassidy) that you have left, and although you know that it's stupid, you want to hold onto it for some reason.

'I wanted to talk about the wedding…' Parker says from the passenger seat.

'Yeah…I have to say, I was a little surprised to see that you guys were coming back to have the wedding here, I mean, I thought…your parents.'

'Yeah, they…kind of flipped when we told them, but most of our friends are here, so it just made sense,' says Bronson from the back.

'Yeah, that and besides the fact that Bronson wanted a wedding on the beach…but that's not what I want to talk to you about…I want you and Veronica to be my bridesmaids!'

You pause for a second, eyes never leaving the road in front of you, 'I'd be honored to be your bridesmaid…getting hold of Veronica, however, might be a little trickier,' you say and you can see Parker's face drop from the corner of your eye.

'Oh. Why? What's happened? Where is she?'

'No idea,' you answer truthfully. 'She left about…three months ago with no explanation.'

'What do you mean no explanation?' Bronson asks from behind you.

'Like, she just left one morning, all her stuff gone, no note or letter or anything really,' you shrug. 'We all tried to call her and email, but to no avail.'

'Well do you know if she's okay? Are you sure she hasn't been…kidnapped or anything? I mean, anything is possible; this _is_ Veronica we're talking about,' Parker says, sounding scared and nervous at the same time.

'Hon, I think that everyone would be a bit more on edge if there was any possibility that Veronica had been abducted,' says Bronson. Parker immediately calms down and slumps into her seat a little bit.

'Of course; you're right. Her dad is a P.I. But – wait, can't he track her down?' Parker asks.

'He's tried, but Mr. Mars seems to think that Veronica doesn't want to be found, so he said that he would give her time. She'll come home eventually,' you say, turning the corner casually.

'Yeah, probably. So, do you have any idea where she's gone to, or why?'

'No idea.'

'Does it have anything to do with Logan?' Bronson asks in a bored tone from the backseat, and both you and Parker turn around to face him and give him a look. 'What?' he shrugs, 'come on, you two were always talking about one of their dramas or another in college.'

'That's not true. Oh, is Logan in town? I invited him to the wedding, but he never RSVP'd.' Parker says.

'Skipped town, like a year ago.'

'Yeah, I think I remember hearing about that, like, a week before we left,' Parker reminisces, 'so, he didn't come back?'

'Nope. Got married Las Vegas style, if you know what I'm saying,' you say.

'He got drunk and then married?' Bronson asks. You roll your eyes.

'No, apparently, he got his now wife pregnant, and then decided to do "the honorable thing."'

'And what's the catch? Veronica's his wife?' Parker asks excitedly.

You shake your head, 'Asher Echolls, a regular party-girl bimbo, if I've ever laid eyes on one. Sorry, I shouldn't be saying that about her.'

Parker's eyes widen, 'seriously?' she asks, her voice rising about five octaves.

'Deadly. Oh, and the baby's due sometime next month, you two should stick around for that. I'm heading over to Seattle, after the wedding.'

'We'd love to, but we can't. We leave for Japan a week after the wedding,' says Parker.

'Honeymooning in Japan?' You ask uncertainly.

'No. Um, there's this whaling ship that – ' Bronson begins, but you cut him off.

'Right, gotcha; Saving the world one animal at a time,' you say, and you can see Parker and Bronson smiling at each other through the rearview mirror.

**ONE MONTH AND A HALF LATER (17 YEARS EARLIER)  
MAC**

'All right then, yeah, all right, I'll see you then. Thursday night at Pulse? I'll be there. Bye!' Says Asher from her hospital bed as she hangs up her cell.

You look up from your laptop, which you're using on the guest couch in her room. 'Isn't it a bit soon to be going out? I mean, you gave birth two days ago,' you ask.

Asher shrugs, putting on an innocent look, 'but I feel fine. Anyways, I could use a good drink. You try squeezing something the size of a watermelon out of something the size of a lemon.'

You put your hands up in a surrender, 'all right, I was just asking. It just seemed a little soon to me. Don't you want to spend time with Alex?'

'Who?'

You can't believe what she just said, was Logan playing a horrible prank when he married this woman?

'You know…your son, the one that you carried around in your stomach for nine months and then squeezed out a couple of days ago?' you ask. Asher shoots you a dirty look.

'Don't talk to me like I'm stupid, Cindy, because I'm so not. And I would prefer if you called my son Alexander Brandon, because that _is_ his name,' she snaps and you consider telling her to take a chill pill, but you restrain yourself.

There's a knock on the door, and both of your attention is averted before Dick bounds in happily. Asher looks to the window disgustedly, as a grin immediately crosses your lips.

'Miss Mackie,' he greets, before taking a seat next to you on the guest couch.

'And, what, do I not get a greeting? This is _my_ hospital room,' Asher begins, and both you and Dick look at each other exasperatedly, rolling your eyes. 'Does Logan think he can just invite his friends in here? This is my hospital room, not his. It's not a disco!'

'You'd like it better if it was though, wouldn't you?' You ask, subtly hinting at how much Asher loves clubs. Dick disguises a chuckle with a cough.

She glares at you, 'what are you even doing here, Cindy? I certainly didn't invite you.'

You close your laptop, 'well, I guess I'll be leaving then,' you say. And it's not as if her words hurt you, it's more that you've been doing Logan a favor and keeping an eye on his wayward wife since she was induced right up to this moment, and quite frankly, you've had enough of her. You get up to leave, but remain stationary in the room.

'Where is Logan anyway?' Asher asks.

'Downstairs with the baby, in the baby room,' Dick answers.

'It's called the maternity ward,' you correct him with a smile.

'Whatever! Baby room, maternity ward, same thing! Damn you and your smart knowledge, Mac,' he jokes and you smile at him.

Asher rolls her eyes, 'oh, why don't you two just go and get a room?' she says.

You ignore Asher as you continue your conversation with Dick, 'so I heard that you and Erica set a date? That's great!'

He nods, 'yeah, it's kinda scary, but good.'

'Erica Sullivan, right?' Asher interrupts. Dick nods in reply. 'She seems nice, why didn't you bring her here to meet us all?'

'Looking after Richie?' you ask.

Dick shakes his head, 'Erica sort of…doesn't really like kids very much,' he explains.

'Oh,' you say, taken aback. 'He's at his grandparents then?' Dick nods. 'Well…what's going to happen when you two get married?'

'Erica wants to hire a nanny, but I won't allow it, I guess she'll just have to live with him,' he says with a grin.

'I totally get her logic. I mean, I don't want to have to put up with a crying, pooping baby,' Asher adds.

'Did you just say "pooping"?' you ask and Dick laughs next to you.

'Yes, I just said pooping, Cindy, and that is so immature that you would ask me that. It really is no wonder that you don't have a boyfriend,' she replies with bite.

'And, I think that is my cue to exit. I'm out,' you say, shooting a look at Dick, who shoots another look back at you that plainly says, "I know what you're trying to say, and I totally agree."

You barely close the door but you can still hear the conversation, 'what's the attraction of the maternity ward in the first place? I mean crying, sniffling, yucky babies. Why does Logan waste his time there?'

'Maybe because he wants to spend time with his son?' Dick remarks sarcastically, and you chuckle to yourself as you walk down the hall, taking the elevator down to the maternity ward, or baby room, as Dick calls it, to try and track Logan down.

As you walk down the halls, casually peering into the rooms (because, really, who doesn't when you go to a hospital?) you see something that confuses you. You double back; just to make sure that you aren't completely losing your mind before coming to a complete halt.

Walking closer to the room, closer to the door, you can see the person sitting on the bed, looking out of the window very clearly.

'Veronica?' You ask uncertainly.

The woman's head jerks in your direction, 'Mac?' she asks.

You have so many questions you're afraid that they'll come flooding out of your mouth. 'What are you…why…where…? What's wrong with you? Are you sick? Are you okay?'

Veronica laughs a bit, but her laugh doesn't sound…right. 'How did you find me?' she simply asks.

'I was walking past,' you reply.

Veronica's eyebrow quirks up, 'so you had no idea that I was here? This was a complete coincidence?'

You nod, 'But wait…what are…?' Your question gets forgotten as realization dawns on your face, 'What are you doing in the maternity ward?'

Veronica is expressionless for a moment, before simply saying, 'surprise,' in an emotionless tone.

You move to the other side of your friend's bed to be closer to her. 'So, wait. You're pregnant?'

Veronica shakes her head, 'not anymore,' she sighs, before opening her top drawer and handing you a small photograph. You study it for a moment, looking at the tiny baby who is sleeping inside one of those incubator-looking type machines.

'Lila Mars; born the day before yesterday, about two months premature. My daughter,' she explains, and you look up from the photo, at Veronica who has tears glistening in her eyes.

'Is she Logan's?' you ask confusedly.

'Ha! I wish!' She says, before her tone changes, '…I mean I don't wish that…I mean compared to her actual father…' she says, and you get the impression that she doesn't want to talk about it, so you don't press the matter.

'Is this why you left?' You ask, motioning to the picture.

She nods slowly, 'I didn't know what else to do, Mac.'

'I mean, I don't blame you or anything…just; a note or anything would have been appreciated. It might have been nice on your dad's behalf.'

'Is he okay? I didn't want to just leave like that, it's not like I planned to just skip out.'

'He's fine,' is all you can say.

'So…what are you doing here? Please don't tell me you're…' she says, looking down at your stomach.

'Wh—Oh, no!' You say immediately. 'No way,' you reassure her. 'No, um…Logan's wife actually is upstairs; they had their baby the other day.'

'Oh,' Veronica says, and you can see her mind working tirelessly, comprehending this information. Her expression is unreadable. 'So…Logan's here?' You nod slowly. 'In this hospital?'

'In this maternity ward as we speak,' you add, and this time you can see Veronica's face visibly pale.

'Wow. Small world,' she comments quietly.

A nurse pops her head into the room, 'sorry, miss, but visiting hours are almost up,' she says to you, and you nod in understanding.

You leave Veronica's room, saying a simple goodbye, wondering whether you should mention this little meeting to Logan, speculating what his reaction might be if you did tell him, and vowing to yourself that while you're here you'll come and visit Veronica.

How were you to know that by the time you came back to Veronica's room the next morning, knocking happily on the open door, that a confused-looking, heavily pregnant Asian woman would smile politely at you and tell you that "your friend must have left"?

* * *

**18 YEARS EARLIER**

**LOGAN**

'And that's Holly, and Astrid…oh! And who can forget the delicious Danielle?' Asks one of Dick's old frat brothers, Rob, who recognized you almost as soon as you walked through the door of the club.

You look away from the three women that Rob has pointed out; they're easy…it's expected. You remind yourself that they are, more than likely, prostitutes, or off-duty strippers.

'I can do better,' you say, slamming a shot glass of tequila.

'Yeah, I'll bet. Just what kind of perks does having the last name Echolls get you?'

You laugh bitterly. If only the Rob-dog knew the truth about having the last name Echolls.

You bang the glass back onto the bar as you get up from the bar stool and walk away. You can feel the alcohol getting to you; the already-pounding techno music seems like it's been turned up a notch louder, and the strobe light bores into your eyes like it didn't before.

You look around the club. It's pretty crowded, but you'd expect that on Spring Break. Your eyes scan the crowd. 'So, who's going to be the lucky lady tonight?' you ask yourself under your breath, and you immediately think 'when did I turn into Dick?'

All the blondes are immediately eliminated from the running. You've had enough experience to know that they only lead to trouble that they're not worth, or at least that's what you keep telling yourself. The sad fact of the matter is, that you are only disappointed when you wake up next to a girl with the same colour hair as _her_, and you convince yourself for a minute that it _is_ her. When the faceless blonde girl turns around, however, you almost vomit at the sinking feeling that fills you, realizing that it isn't Veronica.

No blondes. It's a complete mood-killer.

Your eyes find the center of attention; a scantly clad girl with hair that is far from blonde, ripping up the dance floor.

Your eyes lock for a moment, and she shoots you a sexy smirk, running her fingers through her hair while she dances, only enhancing her hot body. You can't help but smile as you walk away.

Because when you have this faceless girl pinned up against the wall, half an hour later, you can temporarily forget all about your issues with blonde girls.

* * *

'How's my sexy man?' Asher whispers huskily in your ear, while grinding suggestively into your upper leg.

'Well, you're in a rather good mood tonight,' you comment, yelling just to be heard over the noise of the club.

Asher gives you a sexy smile, 'that's only because I have my little friends here to keep me company,' she opens her hand and you can see an assortment of pills lying in her palm. 'You want one?'

'Maybe later,' you say.

'Suit yourself, big boy,' she says, popping another tablet into her mouth. 'You're gonna get lucky tonight.'

It wasn't supposed to be like this; faceless girl was supposed to move on like the rest of the college kids on Spring Break, but, no, this faceless girl is a local, and she now has a name. Asher, the easy lay. Not that you're complaining.

As she dances wildly into the crowd, you can't help but compare her to the first blonde girl who broke your heart.

They're very similar, Asher and Lilly; both girls full of life, the center of attention, beautiful, young, carefree and unpredictable.

Asher is a "Don't ask, don't tell," kind of girl. On securing that particular conquest, Rob-dog rewarded you with a pat on the back and a "nice, dude." Apparently, she's a high school dropout, who came to Mexico with the mission of partying like there's no tomorrow. And she's certainly achieved that. Every single night for more than a year.

**FOUR MONTHS LATER (17 YEARS EARLIER)**

**LOGAN**

'You're getting lucky tonight,' Asher whispers seductively into your ear as she sits in your lap at the bar. And this is how it always begins. You're not dating, or doing anything that has anything to do with the word "commitment," but you've been sleeping together for almost five months now.

You smile lazily at her, as you take another sip of beer. She takes another shot, immediately filling her shot glass with pure vodka after she's finished the first one.

'Jesus, woman, you gonna slow down or what?' You ask. Asher simply skulls another glass. 'What's the occasion?'

'I'm getting plastered!' she yells, and you can't help but chuckle.

An hour later, when she's on the verge of vomiting all over the tourists who are dirty dancing/groping each other, you find it less funny.

'Come on, I'll take you home,' you offer, tugging at her arm slightly, but Asher relents, holding onto the bar.

'Just leave me alone, Logan, I'm staying here,' she says resolutely.

You look around the club for any sign of her friends that are usually seen dancing around her. Damnit! You think that you remember seeing them leave early. Well, that's just swell.

'Come on, you're going to hurl all over the bar.'

'I'm going to hurl regardless. Just leave me alone. You've done enough!'

You stop for a second, really feeling the conviction behind her words, 'what is that supposed to mean?'

'Oh you know!' She says, yelling now. Around you, you can feel people stop dancing and look at you.

'Come on, Asher, let's just go.'

'NO! I don't want to go with you. You've stuffed my whole life up, you know that? My entire life is screwed and it's all because of YOU!' she yells, and the music actually stops. Damn! Are we in some cliché movie? Because in real life, a club doesn't stop playing music for some drunken argument, you think.

This time, you tug a little harder, trying to get her to move, but she doesn't budge. You notice that Asher's just vomited all over the floor. She wipes the residue away from her mouth sloppily.

'Fantastic,' you mutter under your breath. Asher is glaring at you and you stop for a second, sometimes the similarities between her and Lilly are bizarre, because you swear you've received that look many times in the past. They are (were) both way too overdramatic. Even for you.

'Come on, Ash, let's go,' you say, as you notice the growing crowd paying more attention to your little "situation." You pull on her arm a little more.

'Abuse?' She asks, as she laughs derisively, and you can tell that this little party girl is well and truly wasted. She snorts, 'well, can't say that I'm really surprised. I mean…look at who your father is! The mighty Aaron Echolls. Killed that blonde girl--'

You cut her off, your temper finally getting the best of you, 'That's enough! We're leaving,' you yell, avoiding the puddle of vomit as you drag her away.

On your way to the exit, however, another surge of vomit overpowers Asher. After she has finished puking up her guts, she splutters, 'you're a bastard, you know that?'

'And why might that be? Name all of my sins, please, because I really have no idea of what a screw-up I am,' you say sarcastically.

She rolls her eyes, 'and that's the thing, _Logan, _you cannot take responsibility for what you've done…' she rambles, and you give her a confused look. Asher lifts her arms wide into the air, 'that's right everybody…this guy here, Logan Echolls, got me pregnant!' She yells loudly, to the crowd.

This time you succeed in dragging her to the exit. 'What the hell?' You ask, as soon as you feel the humid night air of Mexico.

'You heard me! Pregnant. P-R-E-G-N-A-N-T. You know, with child. Knocked up,' she slurs.

'And were you going to, you know, tell me? Or were you just going to keep taking shots every second night with your girl friends until a baby pops out?' You ask exasperatedly.

'Don't put this blame on me! This totally wasn't in my plan.'

'Do you have any idea what you could do to the baby?' You ask, motioning at her stomach, 'I mean…you smoke, you drink, you…you took about three fantasy's tonight alone!'

Asher crosses her arms over her chest, 'Whatever, Logan. I mean, it's not like I'm going to keep the thing anyway,' she says dismissively, and you cannot believe your ears for a second.

'No.'

'No?'

'No, I won't let you get rid of it.'

'It's _my_ choice. Not yours.'

'Well it's mine now.'

'What the hell are you going to do then?' she asks determinedly.

'I'm not going to let you get rid of it.'

'Whatever,' she says, stepping closer to the road.

'Where are you going? I haven't finished talking to you.'

'I'm going home,' she says before hailing down a passing taxi and stepping inside.

You can feel yourself fuming from head to toe, and mentally berating yourself for getting involved in…_this_.

Before leaving that night, you take your anger out on the brick wall of the club; punching it until your whole fist is numb and you notice the blood streaming steadily from a wound.

**THREE MONTHS LATER (17 YEARS EARLIER)**

** LOGAN**

'Who's Veronica?'

You look up suddenly from your breakfast, an innocent look on your face. 'What?'

'Veronica,' Asher says casually, pouring some milk into her bowl of corn flakes.

You shake your head, as if you don't understand. What a lie.

'Is she the girl in the picture…the one in your drawer?'

'I told you not to go through my stuff,' is your pensive reply.

'I only wanted to put your clean socks away…sorry for trying to be a good _wife_…anyway, how was I to know that an innocent trip to my husband's sock drawer would lead to a treasure trove of memories?'

At your silence, she continues, 'you look very young in the picture…so does she…oh, and getting rid of the blond tips? Best thing you've ever done, sweetie.'

'Glad you approve,' you say dryly. You play with your sleeves for a moment, 'and that's not Veronica.'

'Oh, I just assumed because sometimes you mumble her name…in your sleep.'

Well that's something that you weren't aware of, but it really doesn't surprise you; you have been thinking of the tiny blonde one a lot lately, particularly when you pick your drunk, _pregnant_ wife up from the local club, just thinking about how Veronica would never risk your unborn child's life like that.

Truth is, you don't keep any pictures of Veronica around…not anymore, you've discovered that it's too painful, too tempting. You're too afraid that you'll do something stupid.

'Who is she?'

'Lilly,' you reply, both of you knowing that that wasn't the answer that she was looking for.

**16 YEARS EARLIER**

**LOGAN**

You liked to watch him sometimes, just sit and watch Alex as he slept, sometimes absently stroking his soft, downy tuft of baby hair.

Asher wasn't around, she was never really around, but it didn't really matter. You liked it better this way anyway, just you and Alex.

From time to time, you'd get a call from the club, saying that Asher was wasted again, and could you please go and pick her up. You wouldn't have been surprised if the club had your number on speed dial.

Sometimes you really thought it was a miracle that Alex was as healthy as he was; you knew that while Asher was pregnant that she continued to drink, smoke and take drugs. Her addiction to cocaine was no secret, either.

But when you received the call at two o clock in the morning, with the caller ID showing "Pulse" you weren't really surprised.

However, when the bartender sounds even more stressed than usual, you immediately know that something is wrong.

So you race down to your wife's favourite club and get there in time to see a body bag being taken out. One of Asher's coked out friends, Brittany, is looking wide-eyed at the scene, crying hysterically, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out what exactly is going on.

'There was nothing we could do,' says a paramedic ten minutes later. You can hear background noise, paparazzi that have gotten a hold of this scandal and other bystanders.

'Typical overdose…bathroom floor, the usual.'

'Logan Echoll's wife.'

'Yeah, well, he's never had much luck…'

You feel like yelling, 'you got that right!' but you don't. You don't shed a single tear as you go back home, back to the night maid Juanita, to relieve her of your baby son.

**TWO WEEKS LATER (16 YEARS EARLIER)**

**LOGAN**

The cold wind hits you suddenly as you stand on an old friend's doorstep at eleven o clock at night, waiting for him to open the god damned door because it's freezing outside. You never picked Dick to be a "Wisconsin" type of guy – if there even is a type. It's so much colder than Neptune and with no surfing prospects. Then again, as Alex moves around a little from his position snuggled into your side, you can't help but remember how much things really do change.

The door opens slowly and Dick surveys the scene before him.

You consider using the line he, himself used once upon a long time ago, "I had nowhere else to go," but that sounds cheesy enough, so you don't say anything.

He must know what's been going on by now; it's been broadcast all over the newspapers, TV, radio and every tabloid making the rounds. He might have been one of the many phone calls that you rejected.

'Dude, not like that, like this,' he says, moving forward and redoing Alex's diaper the right way. You still haven't got the hang of all of that baby stuff anyway.

You smile to yourself a little when "daddy Dick" finishes his demonstration of doing up a baby's diaper the right way.

'Are you going to come in or what? It's fricken freezing out here,' he says, and you don't have to be asked twice.

Sometime in that week, you both decide that a trip back to Neptune might be the next step in this bizarre new life you've each built for yourselves. It's not like you knew at the time that Neptune was where you would both permanently stay.

* * *

**17 YEARS AND SIX MONTHS EARLIER**

**VERONICA**

As you sit in an almost empty bar with nothing but a glass of whiskey and a newspaper to keep you company, you consider for a moment just how much your life has changed in the short span of a few months.

You sigh and take another mouthful, sculling it and feeling the burn of the alcohol as it slides down your throat. You're not your mother, you know that, and hey, it's not as if you're an alcoholic, this is only the second night in a very long time that you've felt the urge to get wasted for no other reason than to drown your sorrows, and forget - even if it does only last temporarily.

You clench the tabloid angrily in your hand for maybe the thousandth time that night and consider ripping it to shreds for a moment, but decide against it. You have no idea why _this_ has affected you so much. You thought that you could deal with most things after your previous letdowns, but since those, your life has only gotten worse with each passing day.

'Another drink, sweets?' asks the bartender, a big, bouncer-looking guy named Mike who you reportedly dedicated your drunken karaoke version of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart," last time you were in here.

You nod politely, 'Keep 'em coming,' you grimace even at the sound of the words as the come roughly from your own throat.

He looks at you for a moment, as if to say something, but doesn't. He simply nods and gives you a small smile and you realise how _pathetic_ this really is.

But it's only for one night.

Well, that's your excuse anyway, if anyone asks.

So, the "Love Will Tear Us Apart" episode; yeah, that was a little embarrassing, and you're kind of glad that nothing drastic has happened since then, otherwise it would be twice as embarrassing (if that amount of embarrassment is even possible) to be seen in this particular bar again.

**6 Months Before That**

After a final; and I mean final. You can underline that, write it in capital letters, draw an ugly red circle around it and highlight it if you wish, FINAL break-up with Logan. I found myself at an old run-down bar on the wrong side of the tracks in Neptune; the very same bar that I had once walked a stumbling Lianne out of myself.

I wiped a stray tear from my cheek and took a deep breath of the chilly night air before I entered.

I felt like I had been kicked in the gut, except it hurt ten times worse. Of course, I'd never actually been kicked in the gut, but I could imagine the pain.

Logan and I had been dating since the start of junior year, college. But this time, there were no secrets or insecurities between us…or so I thought. Our relationship had fizzled today; fizzled, burned, crashed; use whichever euphemism you feel more comfortable with.

Barbs centered around all things Kane were shot, and in the end, we both knew that it was _the end_.

He said that deep down, a part of me still loved Duncan, and I, being the angry Veronica whilst pissed off that I am, shot back at him that a part of him was still reserved for Lilly, and I would never be able to occupy that space.

'I let Lilly go a long time ago, so why can't you just let Duncan go, Veronica?'

I had stared at him bewildered. 'I have let Duncan go! Why do you think I'm with you?!'

'Face it Veronica, if Mr Perfect himself hadn't run away with his illegitimate love child, you'd still be with him, wouldn't you?'

I didn't answer. He was being completely unreasonable. Logan knew exactly how I felt about him.

'That's what I thought,' he said.

'I didn't say anything.'

'You didn't have to.'

'You can't just bad-mouth my relationship with Duncan…that's in the past Logan, why can't you just get over it already?' I yelled.

'It's not just Duncan…Piz…'

'Oh! You want to start on past relationships, then?' I yelled angrily. I started to tick off of my fingers, 'How about we name all of your sluts? Entertainment enough? Caitlin Ford, _Kendall_, oh! And how can I forget the delightful Madison Sinclair?! Careful Logan, you might need to get me a piece of paper, I'm running out of fingers here!'

I watched his expression soften just a tiny bit, and he ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

'Maybe if you didn't sleep with every slut that _throws_ herself at you the moment we break up, this wouldn't be an issue!' I said.

'Just be honest with yourself, Veronica. You're avoiding the subject here; I'm just a substitute until good ol' Duncan gets back, aren't I?'

I shook my head in anger.

'No?' He asked sarcastically. 'No, I'm just a link, a link to the good old times when things were so _perfect_,' he spat the last word out. 'A link to long hair, and limo parties at Homecoming, and more importantly, _to Lilly_.'

That had done it. I snapped, opening my hand, which was curled into a fist, and slapping him square on the cheek. For a moment, he looked stunned. I looked down at my hand in astonishment as he rubbed the tender skin on his cheek.

'I'm…I'm sorry, Logan,' I said, as I reached over to rub his cheek.

He turned away. 'Don't be. This isn't working.'

'What do you mean?' I asked quietly.

He motioned between the two of us, '_this_ isn't working. Us. We can't be fixed. It's over, Veronica. For good this time.'

I shook my head, 'you can't _mean_ that. Remember what happened last time?'

He turned sharply, 'Oh, was this the last time when I slept with any and every girl who _threw_ herself at me?' he asked sarcastically. 'I'm done being hurt. I can't do it. _I love you_. More than I can take, but I'm never going to add up to what you want me to be. I'm never going to be Duncan.'

'I don't want you to-' I started, but he cut me off.

'Face facts! We don't work. We tear each other down, and hurt each other. We'll never work. And I'll be damned if I'm going to wait around for Duncan to get back for you to go running back to him.'

'Newsflash Logan; Duncan's never coming back!'

'See, this is exactly what I'm talking about! Duncan's never coming back, right? So that's why you're with me. I know when I'm not wanted, Veronica. You don't love me. You don't trust me. You wish I was someone else who I can't be,' he put his hands up in surrender. 'I'm done. We're done. We can't do this forever. You have your whole life in front of you, why don't you track Mr Perfect down, and run away…I'm sure you'd make a great mom to what's-her-name; illegitimate love child,' he said coldly.

'Wait one moment,' I said, stepping between him and the Presidential Suite's door. I pointed an accusing finger at his chest. 'You think that you've been _so_ hard-done-by in your life, and I'm not saying that you haven't…but just because of your daddy issues, you get to go through life _like this_ and treat _me like this_?! That's not how it works, Logan.

Yeah, okay, so you had a crappy childhood. Who hasn't? Your father was a bastard, but just remember that you're not the only one who has suffered loss at his hands. You think that just because he treated you like that, that everyone will? That's not true. I don't expect you to be perfect, or anyone besides yourself.'

'And back in junior year, high school, you didn't just get with me to get back at Duncan?' he asked angrily.

I stepped back, 'where did that come from? We're not even talking about Duncan anymore.'

'Answer the question.'

'Of course not,' I had no hesitation in answering.

'Look, I'm sick of arguing. I've made my mind up; we're going nowhere, Veronica. We're no good for each other. I plan to leave tomorrow, and I'd appreciate it if you left me alone and _didn't_ try to track me down.'

'Where are you going?' I asked quietly.

'I don't know,' he answered, facing the wall as he spoke. 'Somewhere.'

'What am I going to do?' I asked quietly.

'You're better off without me anyway. I won't be seeing you,' he said, as he slammed the door shut behind him.

That was the last time I saw Logan Echolls.

* * *

Sniffling slightly as the cold wind hit my nose, I entered the bar, wrapping my hands in my large pockets. Once at the bar, I ordered the alcoholic beverage that would get me tipsy the quickest.

All night, I kept glancing back at the wide double doors, expecting at any moment that Logan would walk in, no expressions on his face as he walked determinedly towards me, cupping my face with his large, warm hands and kissing me passionately, whispering "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry," as he did so, and lifting my slightly heavy, alcohol laden body gently out to his range rover.

But it didn't happen that way. Logan didn't arrive at any time that night, and by two in the morning, by which time, I was well and truly plastered, I decided to stumble over to the jukebox.

I hadn't returned to that bar in six months – I hadn't needed to, I decided that drinking away my feelings and relationship with Logan wasn't the best way to deal with things, so I found alternate methods.

Everything was going okay, until now.

**6 MONTHS LATER (17 YEARS EARLIER)**

**VERONICA**

You open the tabloid disgustedly and view the page that you haven't been able to _not_ look at every ten minutes. And it's there again, the ugly truth. And you never thought that it would turn out like this.

Another mouthful of liquor, and another disgruntled glance down at the magazine.

And it's staring at you right in the face.

_Echolls Son Weds Pregnant Loose-Cannon Girlfriend in Mexico_

There's an accompanying article and many pictures that just provide the proof staring at you, as Logan, looking quite strapping (if you'll admit it) in a tux and holding the hand of a girl in a long, white, strapless dress – you won't admit that it's close to the dress you used to fantasize about getting married in, back when Lilly was alive – who is evidently pregnant as she strokes her midsection. There's a small bump that couldn't be seen unless you were specifically looking for it.

And it just makes you want to vomit, or drink until you pass out, and can't remember anything. Or preferably, all three options rolled into one.

It was chance that you'd come across it, an innocent trip to the supermarket resulting in stumbling across a wide range of tabloids all with the same, or similar titles and pictures showering the front page. You dropped the yogurt you had been holding. Logan Echolls was married.

With a baby on the way.

And as if your week couldn't get any worse…four days ago, you had received a letter from the FBI. You opened it confidently, thinking that your acceptance must have gotten lost in the post, because it had arrived so late. The FBI internship that you had completed in freshman year, college was very successful and lots of influences at the FBI had practically guaranteed you a position in the future.

Alas, no.

_Miss Mars,_

_We are sorry to inform you that your application for the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been denied. _

_On further investigation into your personal history and files, we have received intelligence that you had previously been closely associated with Mr Duncan Kane, a known criminal, who still has an outstanding warrant for kidnapping and the charges that apply. We simply cannot accept an agent into our institution with a criminal record and reputation such as your own._

_During your internship at the academy three years ago, many agents found you to be a particularly bright young woman who has potential to go further into your career. _

_I am personally sure that you will do wonderfully in whichever career you choose to pursue. _

_Sincerely, _

_Patricia Arthur _

Which, in other words meant that you had been rejected from the FBI, an organization that had seemed to be made for one Veronica Mars in particular, except, it wasn't.

You were upset, of course you were, your future plans for a career had just been shot to hell. But hey, on the bright side, the FBI wasn't the only thing that you had been working towards; you were a certified P.I and also not so bad with a camera, so career options were still open, you supposed.

So you began to drink, and drink you did. Wallowing in your sorrow didn't feel as bad when you drank.

You didn't have anyone to talk to either; Wallace was in New York playing for the Knicks, Mac was working a stint with some software company in Europe, Piz was back in Beaverton for a while, Parker was off exploring the world of animal rights with Bronson and even Dick Casablancas was gone.

Life had moved on and you were the one who had been left behind in the dust.

Feeling as bad as she did, and capping off the end to perhaps one of the worse weeks of her life; you aren't really surprised when the big double doors of the bar open, revealing none other than Sheriff Don Lamb. When he sees you, a smirk grows on his face.

You turn back to the bar, and order another shot, knowing that he is going to walk right up to you and sit down, which he does a second later.

'Well if it isn't Veronica Mars,' he drawls, slouching onto the barstool. He whistles over the bartender and orders a whiskey.

'Well if it isn't Neptune's very own favourite asshole, Don Lamb,' you retort, slurring maybe just a little.

'Three years running,' he quips, taking his drink immediately as it comes. You drink yours as fast as you can, you'll be needing its influence if Lamb intends to bug you all night.

'Ahhhh, I had a suspicion that was why you were drinking so heavily,' he comments, a satisfied smirk on his face as he points towards the magazine bunched up in your hand, revealing part of the main picture of your ex boyfriend. 'How does it feel, being dumped by a dropkick like him, and then learning that he's married with an unborn child?'

'Makes me feel half as lonely as you must feel every single day,' you say, deciding on revealing some truth as well as insulting Lamb at the same time.

'Yet, somehow, I'm managing without getting myself completely drunk,' Lamb pointed out.

'If that's the case, then why are you here?' you ask smartly.

For a moment, there was silence as Lamb himself drank some more of his drink. You start to consider that maybe, just maybe, Lamb's life is as miserable as your own. He has no social life that you can think of, no friends outside of work, no family and certainly no wife/fiancée/girlfriend.

'What do you _do_ with yourself?' you suddenly blurt out, and it probably has something to do with the alcohol. But you have to know; because it well seems that you're heading down that same path yourself.

He sighs loudly, 'drink,' you think you hear him mutter, and this is probably the most…meaningful probably isn't the right word, but meaningful conversation you've ever had.

So you stay. And so does he. And it surprises you just how much you actually enjoy his company (again, you can blame your good moods towards one-another on the copious amounts of alcohol.)

Of course, when you awake sometime the next day with a pounding headache, and an unfamiliar limb sprawled over your _naked_ body and realize that you **SLEPT **with Don Lamb, your worst enemy Don Lamb, you get the hell out of the Camelot Motel as fast as you can and pray to god that he doesn't remember what happened.

As much as _you_ try to disregard the events of that night; you can't seem to forget the feel of his hands on your body and the thought just makes you want to throw up.

**2 MONTHS LATER (17 YEARS EARLIER)**

**VERONICA**

You've had it; you're sick of the being hauled into the station on false charges whilst Lamb makes eyes at you and asks you suggestively whether you'd like to join him in the interrogation room.

So perhaps you thought on that one night a couple of months ago that maybe, just maybe Lamb had a heart after all. But now you realize that he is an asshole. Nothing but an inconsiderate asshole, and he will always be.

It seems that the devil's spawn has an exceedingly good memory, and did not forget about your drunken one night stand, as he continued to remind you in the weeks that passed, looks that he sent you, or bumping into you "accidentally" as you both moved through the Sheriff's Department.

You cannot think of anything that repulses you more than having sex with Don Lamb.

Except this, you remind yourself as you look down at the small contraption in your shaking hands and see what you feared the most.

Two lines.

You check the box that accompanies said contraption and see for perhaps the billionth time that two lines definitely does mean pregnancy, and you hope that you're stuck in a nightmare, or your vision is failing; either of those choices would be convenient for you right now.

Because you know that you are now carrying the devil's spawn's spawn. It has to be his, unless you're the Virgin Mary, which you aren't. He's…he's the only one who you've had relations with since Logan left.

You, Veronica Mars, are pregnant with Don Lamb's baby.

It sounds too surreal to even fathom. You hate each other, deeply hate each other. Your life really has gone way downhill since college ended.

You make a decision; you have to. There's no way you can stay in Neptune, especially when the tune _Veronica has a little Lamb_ keeps repeating in your head over and over again, making you want to puke even more than you do. Who can you tell? All of your friends are still gone, and they wouldn't understand anyway…you don't understand. You slept with Don Lamb for christsakes!

So you leave without so much as a goodbye, and it kills you inside just to imagine your father's disappointment, but at least you don't have to physically explain to him that you're pregnant…with Don Lamb, and live with that.

**17 YEARS EARLIER **

**VERONICA**

Perhaps you can blame it on the loneliness, or on the sleepless nights that you've endured since bringing tiny Lila home, or maybe the fact that you pine for some adult interaction.

That's why you're standing in a secluded phone box in the middle of nowhere, next to an empty diner at midnight, wearing a long black wig, big sunglasses and a muumuu. You know that you look and seem crazy, but it's been so long and you're not taking any chances with your disguise.

As the phone picks up on the other end, you can't help but sigh.

'Hello,' says a bright sounding voice that you immediately recognize on the other end.

'Duncan, it's me,' you say, emotions overpowering you as you express your excitement in your voice.

Immediately he lowers his voice, and you hear shuffling, as if he's moving around. 'Veronica?' he asks incredulously. 'Is it really you? What are you doing calling me? Do you know how dangerous this is? What's wrong, what's happened?'

'Nothing's wrong, nothing's wrong,' you try to convince him. 'And don't worry about the security, this is completely untraceable. I just…I really wanted to talk to you.'

He chuckled on the other end, 'it's good to hear your voice. I missed you.'

'You too,' you say, tears threatening to spill right out of your eyes.

It's at that moment; Lila decides to let out a wail from her baby basket situated on the floor. You shush her hurriedly.

'Is that a baby in the background?' Duncan asks. 'Wait…are you…is it yours?'

'Yes,' you partly whisper, deciding that if you can tell one person the truth, it's Duncan. You trust him, and what can he do with the information in Australia, anyway?

'You're a mom?' he asks. 'That's great!'

A tear makes its way down your cheek as you lean down and shush Lila, phone still connected to your ear.

'So is it Logan's?' he asks.

'Ha! No, it's not Logan's,' you say, wiping the moisture away. 'Logan's actually married and has a baby of his own.'

'Oh, okay…sorry, I just presumed that you and him got back together,' Duncan said. 'I'll just put my foot back in my mouth now,' he joked.

'No, we did get back together, it just didn't last,' you explain.

'Oh. So who's the father then?' he asks.

'If you'll believe it…Don Lamb,' you say.

'No way! You and Sheriff Lamb? You're joking, right? Very funny, you actually had me there for a second.'

'I'm not joking, Duncan,' you say quietly, and his end is silent, 'let's just say it involved copious amounts of alcohol…'

Duncan is the only person you tell about Lila's paternity. And in the years that follow, you keep calling Duncan from a mysterious payphone in the middle of nowhere; once a year, at midnight, on the same night. He soon becomes your best friend, and there isn't much that you wouldn't tell him.

There isn't anything between you anymore _like that_, you realize, and you grow to love Duncan for being such a great friend, and for being there to talk to, especially in the hard times, when you mostly did call him.

**5 MONTHS LATER (17 YEARS EARLIER)**

**VERONICA**

You aren't really surprised when you open the door only to find a calm-looking Keith Mars on the other side. You've been expecting someone would drop by soon enough, especially after seeing Mac at the hospital a couple of months ago, your only surprise is that it took them so long.

'So you found me,' you say softly, and your dad does nothing but nod.

Within seconds, you're enveloped in a bear hug, and you're pretty such that you are the one who initiated it. It's been so long since you've had an adult to talk to, so long since you've seen someone that you love.

And all of a sudden, you're crying in your father's arms, all of the emotions you've kept together coming to pieces; the extreme scared-ness that you felt when your little girl was born so premature, the loneliness you've felt since leaving Neptune and even the rejection still showing from Logan's breakup.

And then you both hear it; the wail of a baby from inside your small apartment. You look up at your dad for some sign of recognition, but he simply says, 'you'd better take care of that.'

So you go into the house, letting him in before you retrieve Lila from the other room.

'Dad, this is my daughter, Lila Mars,' you say softly, expecting some kind of lecture, or something, but your dad doesn't do anything except walk over to the baby, a smile touching his lips as he talks to her.

'I'm guessing Mac told you?' you ask after a comfortable silence. Dad nods, 'I had my suspicions, Mac simply confirmed it.'

'Look dad, I'm sorry-' you start to say, but he cuts you off.

'Don't apologize or try to explain, Veronica. I understand that you've had a rough time. I'll admit, I am a little disappointed, but I forgive you, and I just want us to be a family again; Lila included.'

'Thank you,' you say simply, before giving him a hug.

* * *

'So you heard about that, huh?' your dad asks later on, when Lila is fast asleep and you are both sitting at your kitchen table, coffee mugs in hand and discussing almost everything with one-another. Your dad motions to yet another tabloid magazine that sits on the table amongst other things.

This title reads _Echolls Family Curse_, not quite an original heading, but pages 3-14 of this issue are dedicated to, you guessed it, the dramatic, tragic lives of the Echolls family, mostly Logan, and his latest tragedy, the untimely demise of his wife, who allegedly overdosed on drugs.

'Me and the rest of America,' you answer your dad's question. He nods. 'I tried to call him but there was no answer,' you admit. Said phone call took place just days after you heard about his wife's death. You finally gained enough courage and called him, but he didn't answer, not that you were surprised anyway. He wouldn't want to talk to you of all people.

'Poor kid's had a rough life,' your dad says quietly and you nod in agreeance.

When your dad leaves in the next week, noting extensive work commitments for his reason, he asks you to return to Neptune with him. You refuse. It's too soon to be going back there, and too soon to be facing one Don Lamb without attracting suspicion from him. You still haven't told your dad who Lila's father is. You're too afraid that it will ruin his newfound trust in you again. So you don't tell anyone besides Duncan, until now.

* * *

**NOW**

**VERONICA**

'Don Lamb,' I said, in answer to my very angry teenage daughter standing in front of me.

Before either of us can say anything more, Lila makes a run for it out the door of Mars Investigations, shooting me one last, tear stricken, heated look.

'Lila!' I call, but it's too late, she's gone now. All you can do is hope that she calms down and doesn't do anything stupid, but it's useless hoping. You rest your pounding head in your hands and wonder how much this little revelation will affect the lives of your family and friends.

* * *

A/N I hope that that chapter cleared up what's been going on for everyone...any other questions I'd be glad to answer, or if you'd just like to know more...whatever.

Your reviews would be muchly appreciated, as they are the only thing that keeps me on this monster of a fic. lol.

The next chapter will be shorter in length - duh. But I hope to get it out much sooner than I got this one out :)

Review, please, and make my day!

Peace.

* * *


	17. Growing Up, Falling Down

**LILA**

So why wasn't this Don Lamb's (who was apparently my father) name not on my list of possible daddies? I pondered as I kept walking, turning into a crescent. The name sounded somewhat familiar, but grandpa didn't suspect him enough to list him, yet alone mention him.

Where had I heard that name before? An alarm bell was going off somewhere in the very back of my mind, but it just wasn't registering. Sure, there was always the possibility of my father being a complete black sheep, but against the other suspects like Logan Echolls, Duncan Kane and Stosh Piznarski, I had been convinced that it was one of the three and not an outsider.

As I passed a phone box, an idea struck me. Walking in quickly and without drawing attention to myself, I closed the door and began thumbing through the phonebook as fast as I could. Stopping at L and glad that there seemed to be only one D Lamb in the book (and equally pleased that there was no other initials attached to the name,) I emptied my pocket of the measly amount of change that I had and hastily deposited it into the slot, carefully dialling the number.

I never planned to actually speak to Mr Lamb, but the confirmation of hearing said father's voice may have been comforting, I countered, feeling myself on the edge of tears, as they started to sting my eyes.

It was the voice message that played when no one answered that finally nudged me over that fine line.

"Hello you've reached Sheriff Don Lamb. I'm not here at the moment, but if you leave a message after the tone, I'll get back to you as soon as I can. If this is a police matter, hang up and call 911. Have a nice day," the voice drawled with obvious faux interest.

Hearing this kind of confirmation reduced me to tears within moments when I made the realization that I had been acquainted with my father before. My father was the sheriff of Neptune. He'd driven Taylor and I back home after arresting the Navarro twins on the night of Cassie's party on the beach.

Without even realizing, I made my way out of the phone box and within minutes was standing on a friend's porch, not quite comprehending just how I came to be there. I timidly knocked on the door.

A shadow appeared on the other side, and Mrs D'Amato opened the door with a wide smile on her face.

"Lila!" She exclaimed, before realizing that something wasn't quite right. Her face dropped with concern as she stepped outside. "Is everything okay, sweetie?"

I made a hasty effort to wipe my face and place a smile on my lips, even if it did look staged. "Not really," I answered truthfully. "Is JD home?"

Gia looked at me in concern for another moment, before motioning to the inside of the house. "He's in his room. Come inside."

I nodded gratefully as I walked inside and stood in the hall, waiting for Gia to join me.

"It's the…second on the right upstairs," she said unsurely as she continued to watch me wearily.

I nodded again and started to walk up the stairs, before turning back to JD's mom, "If my mom calls, can you please tell her that I'm not here?" I asked. Gia considered the request for a moment before agreeing.

"Thanks. I just…really don't want to see her at the moment," I explained before continuing up the stairs. When I made it onto the second floor, I studied the hall carefully, thinking about what I was doing here, what I was going to say.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a soft noise coming from the second door on the right.

A voice was drifting through the door, heartily singing to a tune that I only recognised because I had put up with my mother's taste in music for so many years.

Had I been in a better mood, I probably would have laughed at JD, but I just walked a little closer to his door, knocking on it. When there was no reply, I knocked louder and when I finally decided that JD wasn't coming to open the door, I opened it slowly, inch by inch.

"Mom I told you for, like the tenth time, I'm not hungry," JD said, not looking up from his laptop, which he was staring at intensely from his sprawled out position on the bed.

When I didn't answer him, not quite knowing what to say, he finally looked up, surprise alarming his figures as he changed position on the bed. "Lila," he gasped. I gave him a small smile in return.

"What are you doing here? If I had known you were coming over I might have made an effort to clean my dump of a room," he joked, removing the large headphones that covered his ears and getting up from the bed. His facial expressions changed when I didn't respond. "Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Not really," I replied, unintentionally breaking into a new set of tears.

In two short strides, JD enveloped me in a hug and I leant into him a little more. I would never admit it, but it felt good to be held by JD. I felt protected and he was nice and warm, which was a nice comparison to the cool air I had been walking in for the past hour. I had forgotten to pick up my jacket on my way out of the office.

Twenty minutes later, we were both seated on the bed, side by side.

"So…" JD cleared his throat, "let me get this straight, your mom said that the Sheriff was your dad, right?" he asked. I had told him all about the events which had occurred this afternoon.

I nodded my reply, biting my lip, "that was the general gist, yeah."

"Whoa," he said simply.

I turned to him quickly, "oh my god, he's that bad?!"

JD was also quick to face me, "no…I mean, I don't know. I didn't mean 'whoa' like that."

"But you do know him, right? Your dad works for him, you must know him."

"I know him…everyone in Neptune _knows_ him. But its not like we hang out, or he comes over for Sunday dinner or anything."

"He's horrible, isn't he? I heard the Navarro's talking about him. My dad's a complete bastard," I stated.

JD moved his head from side to side, as if both agreeing and disagreeing with my statement.

"I guess that's open for interpretation. Some days my dad comes home and complains about what a tool he is, but I mean, he's been sheriff for ages and ages…he must be doing something right to keep being re-elected. Even my dad says that he is a good sheriff."

"Yeah, but is he a good person?" I asked. JD simply shrugged. "Guess you'll have to figure that one out by yourself. It's probably better that way anyway. Gossip and other people's opinions aren't always the best way to view how _you_ perceive people," JD replied wisely.

"That's true," I said. After a moment of sitting in comfortable silence, in most of which, I tried to fix myself up, even slightly, I turned to JD again. "Can we go for a walk or something? I need some fresh air."

"Sure," he replied, as he followed me as I got off of the bed. As he grabbed his jacket off the desk chair, he looked at me with a funny look on his face, before he opened his closet door and threw something out of it.

"Take that or you'll freeze," he said, stepping out of the wardrobe.

I picked the jacket up off of the floor slowly and placed it around my shoulders, immediately feeling the warmth of the garment and the distinct JD smell that lingered on it.

I looked in the mirror, only to see myself, red faced and puffy eyed, swimming in the sheer size of the jacket.

"How do I look?" I joked, turning to JD, who simply smiled at my reflection before opening the door and motioning for me to pass through.

* * *

**VERONICA**

"Hi Lila…it's your mother here. Look, I just wanted to apologize for what happened before. Um…if you could come home soon that would be good. We're having Chinese for dinner, your favourite. I would really like to talk to you," I said, sighing as I hung up the phone.

It had been two and a half hours since my darling daughter had stormed out of Mars Investigations and there had been no sign of the girl. If Lila didn't come home soon, it would be dark and I would have to start looking for her; meaning embarrassing phone calls and searches that probably weren't necessary.

"I thought you'd be at home by now," dad said as he dropped his suitcase on the coffee table. When I didn't reply, dad continued apprehensively, "is everything okay?"

"Not really…Lila's gone walkabout somewhere."

"What? What happened? I don't understand…"

"We had an argument of sorts," I supplied quietly.

"About what?" Dad asked interestedly.

I started to get up from the receptionist chair, putting the lid back on my pen as I did so, "Oh, you know, the usual…her paternity," I replied offhandedly.

"Have you ever considered that perhaps she's more justified in her arguments?" dad asked.

I started to laugh nervously. "Perhaps I listened to your advice," I said as I pulled on my jacket and left the office, leaving my father standing in the room, trying to comprehend this information.

* * *

**KEITH**

So Veronica had finally told Lila who her father was? It was about time.

I waited another half an hour and peered out the window. It was starting to get dark and Lila still hadn't returned. I made the decision to go out and look for her, picking up my keys on the way out.

So if I was a sixteen year old girl who had just found out who her father was; where would I go? I took a guess, Lila, being a Mars would go to confront said father, surely.

So I headed over to the Echolls place. Of course, it hadn't been confirmed that Lila was an Echolls, but I had a strong belief that she was.

The door was answered almost as soon as I knocked.

"Hello Logan. Is Lila around?" I greeted.

"Sorry sir, she isn't," he replied. It still amused me that even to this day, Logan Echolls insisted on calling me 'sir.'

I gave the man standing in front of me a puzzled look. Either Logan wasn't the father or Lila hadn't done what I thought she would have in this situation.

"Is something wrong?" Logan asked.

"Don't be alarmed, it's just Lila hasn't been home for a few hours and we can't reach her."

"She's gone missing," Logan stated rather than questioned.

"She had an argument with her mom and hasn't been seen since," I explained.

"If there's anything I can do to help?" Logan offered.

"I don't think so at this stage, but if you see her, can you give us a call."

"Of course," Logan replied. "Um good luck finding her."

I nodded as I walked back onto the path and out of the Echolls front yard, back to my car. I supposed that I could go home and expand sources with Veronica to make a plan to find Lila.

* * *

"You could activate the homing device in her molar," Veronica said. I glared at her. "Sorry for trying to make a joke."

"You do realize she's been gone for three hours, right?" I asked.

"I'm her mother, of course I've realized! I'm just trying to calm my goddamned nerves," Veronica defended. "Sorry dad... that was uncalled for. I'm just worried."

I placed my hand gently on Veronica's shoulder, "I know you are. Don't worry, we'll find her."

Veronica nodded. "I think I'll go around to Wallace's and ask if they've seen her."

"Good idea. Lila's friends with the D'Amato boy, right?" I asked. Veronica nodded her head, "I think so," she replied.

"I'll head over there then," I said, opening the door for Veronica as we both headed out to our respective cars.

When I arrived at the D'Amato's house, Leo opened the door.

"Keith?" he asked unsurely as he switched on the porch light.

"Good evening, Leo," I replied. "I was just wondering whether you'd seen Lila at any stage of the afternoon?"

"Who's there, honey?" came a voice from inside as Gia joined her husband on the porch. "Oh hi, Mr Mars," she said with a smile.

"Gia, how are you?" I asked politely.

"Keith is looking for Lila," Leo said, interrupting his wife's reply. The two adults shared a single look, making me realize that I had come to the right place in the search for my granddaughter.

"She's inside," Leo said after a moment.

"She's a little upset," Gia supplied quietly.

"I know she is," I said with a nod.

"Well, um, come inside," Gia said, opening the door for me to enter. I followed them both into the house.

"Thanks for letting her stay this afternoon," I said, making conversation.

"It's no problem. Lila's welcome here anytime," Gia replied with a smile. "Just through here," she said pointing towards the living room.

"Thanks," I said as I knocked on the doorway, making both teenagers who were sitting on the couch watching a movie look in my direction.

"Kids," I said in greeting as I took a step into the room.

I heard Lila make a loud sighing noise. "And alas, the time has come for me to make my grand exit," she said tiredly as she got up from the couch. "My only surprise is that it has taken so long."

"Yeah well we thought we'd give you a little time. Ready to go?"

"Just one second," she said, holding up a finger to demonstrate. I watched her as she walked over to where the D'Amato boy was sat on the couch, here, she leant down and hugged him. I heard a muffled 'thank you' in there as she stood up straight again and walked past me into the hall and out the front door.

I was about to leave when a voice stopped me. "Mr Mars?" said the boy on the couch. I turned back around to face him. "She seems okay, but she's not," he said simply.

"I know. It's what they do," I replied, referring to the fact that both Lila and her mother acted this way when something was wrong.

"Goodnight, son," I said as I left the house, closing the front door behind me and walking over to the car where Lila was sat in the front passenger seat.

* * *

"So are we going to talk about it?" Lila asked after we had both been silent for a good five minutes.

"If you want," I replied, keeping my eyes on the road.

"I was gone for a while," she said.

"It wasn't that long really," I countered. "And I don't really blame you anyway…I'm actually surprised to find you at the D'Amato's. Your mom said that she told you about your dad."

"She did," Lila replied quietly.

"And do you want to talk about it?" I asked kindly. "You don't have to."

"I wanted to go and confront him…but JD talked me out of it."

"Smart boy," I said.

"Yeah, he is," Lila said, taking a moment to change her position in the car and look fully out of the window.

"What's your opinion of the sheriff?" Lila asked after a moment.

"Lamb? Why do you ask?" I asked suspiciously. The question was a bit out of left field.

"No reason…don't worry about it."

"Are you in trouble, Lila?" I asked unsurely.

"Of course not," she scoffed.

After another moment of complete silence, apart from the soft wailings of the radio, I answered, "He's smug, arrogant, ignorant, a tool…hey, hey, what's wrong, sweetie?" I asked concernedly as I noticed that something wasn't right in the way that Lila was staring sadly at me in a way that she hadn't been before.

"He's…he's…he's my father," she said quietly.

"What? What are you talking about?" I asked with a laugh. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard in my life."

"It's…not true?" Lila asked unsurely, as she pulled the sleeves on her abnormally large jacket over her hands.

"It's crazy! Who said that? Are you kidding me?!" I said, not believing for a second what my granddaughter had just told me. I thought that she was joking, when a thought struck me: had Veronica told her daughter that Lamb was her father to avoid the truth?

"Well mom told me," Lila said.

"Really?" I asked, feeling the anger boiling up inside of me as I pulled into the parking lot of our apartment block.

* * *

"Lila!" I heard from in front of me as Lila entered the apartment and Veronica got up from the couch to embrace her daughter. "Thank god."

"You're not religious, mom," I heard Lila say coldly as she walked out of her mother's reach, obviously not in the 'hugging' mood, and especially not with her mother.

I closed the door behind me.

"What's going on, Veronica?" I asked simply as I put the keys back on the kitchen bench.

"What do you mean?" Veronica asked as she turned to look at me. Lila looked interested to see what I had to say.

"You told Lila that her father was Sheriff Lamb?" I asked with an expression-less look on my face.

Veronica simply stared at me. For a moment there was silence until finally, she spoke quietly, "I did."

"You lied," I said angrily. "Why…?"

"I didn't lie, dad. It's true. Don Lamb _is_ her father," Veronica said, never breaking eye contact with me.

I sighed loudly as I slumped down into the rocking chair, realizing that my daughter was telling the truth. This wasn't just some bad joke.

Incomprehensible. I thought she was smarter than that.

* * *

A/N Thanks for reading! It really does mean a lot - even more if you would mind to hit the review button and drop me a line or two. Cheers everyone! Your ongoing support has fuelled me all the way through this monstrosity of a story and I am extremely grateful - and also flattered by the sheer amount of reviews! Keep 'em coming!

I'm not even gonna bother making excuses and apologizing for the wait. But if you review then at least I'll know that people are still reading so I can continue to write. The next chapter should be along...sometime, hopefully sooner than this one. And I hope you all bear with me. There is good stuff to come I promise!

Thanks again for simply reading and taking some time to do it!

Peace.

* * *


	18. Sophomore Slump Or Comeback Of The Year

**LILA**

It had been a little over a week since my mother had told me the identity of my father. A whole week before I came to the decision that I had to meet him, let him know that he was a dad; _my_ dad.

I wasn't as angry with my mom. I guess I overreacted a little bit when she first told me, but hey, at least she told me, right?

Pop was still angry with her though. I think it was because of who my father was. From what I had learned, Sheriff Lamb had been Pop's biggest adversary for many, many years and he had just learned that his favourite granddaughter belonged half to him.

I hadn't told anyone else that Lamb was my father; the only people who knew were myself, Pop, mom and JD. I had told Alex that we certainly weren't related, but that was all I had given away.

From the tensions between Pop and the Sheriff, I figured that it would probably be big news about my paternity. Big news that I certainly didn't want the whole town to know before even he did. And from what I'd heard, even the Sheriff and my mother didn't get along too well when she lived in Neptune, but I hadn't heard much about that.

"I can't do it," I said as I stood on the steps of the courthouse, which doubled as the sheriff's department.

"Don't be stupid. Of course you can," JD said as he overtook me and opened the massive door. I trudged slowly after him.

"I can't…JD, I'm not ready," I argued as I stopped in the wide hallway. I felt strong hands on my shoulders as JD pushed me closer to our destination; the dreaded sheriff's department.

"I remember you telling me once upon a time that you wanted to meet your father. Here's your chance."

"Yeah but…but…"

"But?" he questioned amusedly.

"I've already met him once and I didn't like him then, what's going to change now?"

"Give him a chance. He might surprise you," he answered with a grin. I took a seat on one of the nearby benches and banged my head lightly against the wall. "I'm not going to be able to say anything; he'll think I'm retarded or something."

"No he won't," JD said, beginning to walk down the hall.

"Where are you going?" I asked loudly. He turned around, "I'm going to inform the sheriff that he has a daughter he's never even met," he replied casually.

"JD NO!" I yelled.

"Okay, take like ten chill pills, I was kidding, Lila," he said, putting his hands up in a surrender gesture.

"Just…wait, okay," I said, taking a deep breath, gathering up my bag and walking towards him.

"Good morning, Inga," JD said brightly when we entered the Sheriff's Department. The elderly woman at the front desk looked up from her computer.

"Jack! How nice of you to drop by. My, you've grown. Look at you," said the woman with a heavy German accent. JD nodded in agreement. "Are you here to see your father?"

"No actually, I was wondering if we could get a minute to see the sheriff?" he asked. I bit my bottom lip in anticipation.

"He's very busy…" Inga said, glancing nervously at a door in the back and to the right of the office.

"I can't do it JD," I whispered suddenly into his ear, before I left the department.

He joined me on the steps in front of the building within a minute.

"I'm not ready. Not yet, okay?" I said. "Let's just go."

"I know a place," he said as he caught up to me. "Come on…you know Amy's?"

"What?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes. "You're so new," he joked.

* * *

"Mmmm…this is good," I said as I took another spoonful of cotton candy ice-cream into my mouth.

The front door of the shop opened, making the chimes jingle and I looked back, only to see Taylor entering. When she saw me, her face cracked into a wide grin.

"Hey Lils," she said with a smile as she sidled up next to me in the booth. "J…..Ja…..Jason, right?" she asked JD.

"Yeah that's right," he said, which made me laugh and Taylor frown.

"JD," I said in between laughter.

"That's right. Sorry 'bout that," she said.

"What are you doing here?" I asked after a moment.

"Well I came to get some ice-cream. I just had to get out of the house. I'm grounded no thanks to your mother, Lila."

"What? What happened?" I asked with a grin on my face.

"Well last Friday night dad said that I wasn't allowed out, right? But there was this thing on over at the beach, so I was halfway through my window when my dad storms in wanting to know if I had any idea where _you_ were 'cos apparently you'd run away…and then he realized that I was halfway through the window…"

"Busted," JD said simply.

Taylor nodded. "Yeah. So you ran away?" she asked interestedly.

"I didn't run away, per se. I was chilling at JD's," I said quietly.

"Oh I see," Taylor said with raised eyebrows.

I glared at her as I swore JD blushed from the opposite side of the table.

"Doesn't 'grounded' mean you have to stay at home?" I asked, changing the awkward subject.

"Wha..? Yeah but I mean, it's Saturday morning…what kind of mischief am I going to get into? Watching the naughty cartoons?!" she said, causing all three of us to laugh. "I'm glad I ran into you though, I didn't get a chance to say 'happy holidays' and all that crap yesterday."

"Oh yeah. Have you got anything planned?" I asked.

Taylor shook her head vigorously. "Absolutely nothing. My life is so boring."

"You over-exaggerator, you," I said with a grin.

At that moment, the chime on the door rang again as someone entered the shop. "Taylor Fennel," the voice said loudly. I looked towards the door as I noticed Taylor's mom.

Next to me, Taylor procured a truckers cap from her bag and slipped it on, sliding further down into her seat.

JD's lips were tightened, like he was trying to hold back a burst of laughter.

"Way to be inconspicuous," I said quietly, still looking over at the door where Mrs Fennel was looking around the store, creating a scene for the other group of people who were eating their ice-cream in peace.

"I know you're in here, Taylor. I saw you," Mrs Fennel said loudly as she crossed her arms over her chest, still looking around the store. Suddenly, her eyes found Taylor, who was looking down at the floor hoping not to be seen, and Mrs Fennel marched angrily over towards the three of us.

"You are skating on very thin ice, missy," she stated loudly and angrily.

"Who, me?" Taylor asked innocently as she lifted her head, realizing that she was busted.

"What do you think you're doing? You're supposed to be grounded."

"I was just going to buy some ice-cream and then be on my way, alright mom. Take a pill or something. It's not as if I'm setting things on fire or anything," Taylor argued. "Can you just let me be a teenager for like five seconds?!"

"Most teenagers don't go sneaking out of their rooms at midnight just to go riding on the back of their bad influence boyfriend's bikes wrecking havoc all over Neptune!" Mrs Fennel countered. "Get your ass in the car right now or I'm calling your father."

"All right, all right," Taylor said, rolling her eyes as she got up slowly. "Lils, JD. Later."

"Bye," we both said in unison.

"Sorry about that," Mrs Fennel apologized, "It wasn't your fault. Um, say hi to your mom for me, Lila."

"Will do," I answered.

"Wow," JD said simply as soon as the bell chimed, signalling the Fennels departure.

"Wow indeed," I agreed. "And I'm totally ready to leave now, what about you?" JD nodded as he stood up from the booth.

* * *

**VERONICA**

There were many things about Christmas that I enjoyed. How could you not enjoy the best holiday of the year?! The only thing I disliked about Christmas was Christmas shopping. Buying gifts for friends and family was distressing; what to buy for them in the first place? Were they good enough friends for anything other than a card and a candy cane? And what if they didn't like the gift? See, Christmas shopping was hard and frustrating.

As I continued to walk past shops in the mall, I was pleased to see a familiar face looking as stressed as I felt, looking at a window display. The woman was holding several shopping bags already, but looked confused about something.

"Can I help you with anything today, miss?" I asked as I walked up close to my old friend, who didn't turn around.

"Actually, yeah, I was wondering how much…?" she began, but stopped asking the question when she realized that it wasn't a shop assistant talking to her. A grin crossed her face. "Oh you're a sneaky one, Veronica Mars."

"That I am," I said. "What are you doing here, Mac?"

"Just enduring my yearly torture," Mac replied, holding up her shopping bags and emphasising her point.

"Just think, if we lived somewhere colder, we could just buy mittens and sleds for everyone and get it over with," I joked, eliciting a laugh from Mac.

"That's true. I need a break from shopping. Wanna grab some coffee?" she asked.

"I'd love to," I replied.

"There's a Starbucks around here somewhere…" Mac muttered as we walked further down the mall. "So I see you haven't been very productive yet," Mac observed, taking in my lack of bags.

"I just got here," I replied.

"Ahhh, I see."

"And who might you be buying for?" I asked.

"The downside of having so many freaking god kids…you feel obliged to buy them presents….everyone. I'm buying for everyone," she replied. I laughed.

"And by yourself as well, you're a brave one, Mackenzie."

"Dick offered to come with…actually, he was quite adamant but I have to get him a present too, so I decided to come solo. I'm glad I ran into you, though. Now we can be tortured together."

"Yay!" I replied sarcastically.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Mac and I were browsing through a department store, laughing casually at some of the horrible Christmas themed knitted sweaters that were on sale at this time of year.

"But seriously…" I said, holding up a large orange coloured one with a picture of Santa on it, the red clashing atrociously against the orange. "This is totally you."

"Oh yeah. I think I'll buy that one right away," Mac agreed with a smile. Her eyes caught glimpse of something to her left and she disappeared for a second before returning with a pair of antlers which flashed different colours. "This," she said, feigning serious-ness. "All you, Veronica."

"Give that to me," I said, moving forwards and picking up the antlers, placing them on top of my head. Mac began to laugh.

"I have to go and check out the cosmetics…I'm thinking about getting some perfume for Cass," Mac said after we had both recovered from our moment of immaturity.

"Good idea. And I'll head over to the electronic gadgetry by myself because I do not need your opinion on which is the best mp3 player in the world."

"Ouch, Veronica. That hurt," Mac joked as she walked in the direction of cosmetics. "I'll come and meet you when I'm done."

"Have fun amongst all of those cosmetics," I joked.

"Always," Mac replied.

So I browsed all of the electronic music emitters the store had to offer before I was interrupted. I was kneeling on the floor, trying to get a better look at one that looked alright for Lila when I heard the familiar drawl from above me, making my skin crawl.

"Veronica Mars. Long time, no see," it said. I looked up and came face to face with one of the people I had stayed out of Neptune to avoid, and one I hoped would continue to be avoided. But, no.

"Lamb," I said quietly. He looked…older. He had wrinkles on his face and grey hair growing at his temples, but other than that, this man was definitely Don Lamb.

I stood up from my ridiculous position on the floor. "What are you doing back in Neptune? Never thought I'd see you back here," he said in a tone that was almost friendly, or amused. I couldn't tell.

"I'm spending Christmas with my dad," I said, remembering to say 'dad' instead of 'family.'

"Mm," he said with a nod. "It's been a while."

"It has," I replied.

"Veronica, you'll never believe what I found!" came a voice from my left. Mac joined the group, a funny expression crossing her face as she noticed that the Sheriff was my company.

"Oh. Hello," she greeted, looking at Lamb funnily. He nodded in greeting. Mac looked over at me. "Are you okay, Veronica? You look all pale."

"Uh," I said, rubbing my head, "yeah, I'm okay."

After a moment of awkwardness, Lamb broke the silence, "I'd better be on my way…citizens to protect and serve…all that jazz. Later," he said as he left. Neither I nor Mac said anything as he left. Mac looked at me with a concerned look on her face.

"Sure you're okay? …Did that asshole say anything?" she asked.

"No," I replied, shaking my head. "Don't even worry about it. What'd you find?" I asked, changing the subject.

* * *

**LAMB**

Well Veronica Mars hadn't changed that significantly, I thought to myself later on that night as I took another drag on my beer. Sure, she looked older, but like I could talk (it's sad when the little chest hair that you have turns grey.)

She didn't look happy to see me; I mean, it wasn't like I was expecting an invite to her 'welcome home' party but_ that_ reaction wasn't what I was expecting. At all.

A snappy, sarcastic comment like "Lamb…insert something about losing muscle tone and going grey – as previously mentioned"? I whole-heartedly expected it, but, alas, no…instead you get a – was it shock? – look on her face and eventual answers to polite questions, but nothing else.

Age changes people, I knew that firsthand. But what the hell was she looking so uncomfortable about? And it wasn't just awkward uncomfortable, it was "please god, let the floor swallow me up right now," kind of uncomfortable. Sure, we'd had a one-nighter, but that was years and years ago. You'd of thought she'd gotten over it by now…or perhaps I was just _that_ good, or scarred her for life; take your pick.

Our track record was…well, it was our track record. Leave the past in the past, wasn't that my new-found philosophy? After winning something like the fifth consecutive election over Keith Mars, things had changed. On the off chance that the department was getting bad press or whatever, Keith would sometimes voluntarily help get the department back together.

Sure, it wasn't as if we went to the bar after work together, or he invited me around for Sunday barbeques, but it was something. A tad beyond acquaintances, yet a fraction far to be called "friends." So why was Veronica fucking Mars standing in front of me looking like I was the ghost of Lilly Kane, popping up to say hello?

I liked to think that I had changed. "It's nice to see that your finally doing your job properly, Don," Keith had actually _said_ those words one night as I locked up the station before walking away. I had been stoked. I would never, ever, ever let anyone know, but I had admired that man once-upon-a-time, a loooooong time ago. It was practically the biggest compliment anyone had ever paid me.

And sure, he still thought that I was cocky, that I was an ass. I'd sure left a lasting impression on a few people in this town and I _knew_ I had been a goddamned bastard on more than one occasion, and usually towards Veronica Mars – and mostly when she hadn't even been eighteen years old.

If I would ever gain the guts to apologize, I would. I feel guilty about it now, more than ever. Believe it or not, as a man gets older, different things come into perception. Veronica Mars had been coming more into perception as time went on. The incredible feeling of guilt seemed to be coming over stronger as I got older.

I knew I had no right to be forgiven, Veronica was definitely one person I didn't deserve forgiveness from. Ok, so now that bizarre unreadable look suddenly seemed more explainable. I decided that I would at least _try_ to show Veronica that I had changed; that I wasn't that guy anymore.

* * *

**MAC**

"Is something wrong, Veronica?" I asked gently as I looked at my friend from the corner of my eye. We were making our way through the mall and something was definitely up.

Veronica's eyes came out of their glassed-over state and focused towards me. She was still slightly pale and hadn't said a word since we'd exited the last department store. "Nope. Nothing's wrong. Everything's fine…and dandy," she added, nodding a little too enthusiastically to be entirely believable.

I nodded back, playing the supportive friend role, "If something _was_ wrong though, you know you could tell me, right?"

Veronica quickly sat on the nearest unoccupied bench to where we were and placed her shopping bags around her. "Okay, something is wrong…damn _your_ sleuth prowess. What gave it away, the pale face? My unusual silence orrrrrr…sweaty palms?"

"How would I even know you have sweaty palms, we're not holding hands," I said as I took a seat next to her. "So I'll answer all of the above; bars the last one."

"It's about Lamb," she said quietly, chewing her bottom lip.

"He's a tool," I said, shaking my head. When I realized that she was having trouble talking about whatever was wrong I said, "hey, do you want to talk about this somewhere more…private?" When Veronica nodded we continued walking to find a little coffee shop with a secluded little booth so that we could talk.

"So…?" I asked when Veronica's cappuccino and my soy latte had arrived.

Veronica sighed loudly before answering, "okay, so I haven't been completely open, or honest about everything since I got back into town."

"What are you talking about?"

"Perhaps I should have rephrased," Veronica said with a small smile, "I haven't told you about what happened after Logan and I broke up, when you left for Europe."

"Like 17 years ago?" I asked sarcastically. Veronica nodded.

"This is really, really hard to say but um…I guess it's gonna come out sooner or later, and I'd rather you heard it from me," Veronica paused for a moment, wearing a look of completely embarrassment. "You know that I was upset after Logan and I broke up…"

"Well, like always, you did well to hide it," I said with a smile. Veronica grinned back.

"Yeah, well, I didn't take the news of Logan and Asher so well, so I went to a bar, and got drunk…when I woke up the next morning I was with Lamb," Veronica relayed slowly. "Nine months later and then Lila came."

"Wait," I said, in complete and utter disbelief at what Veronica had just told me. "Sheriff Lamb is Lila's father?!"

I was about to laugh hysterically at the prank Veronica had just pulled but then I remembered; Veronica had no reason to joke about that…and she wouldn't have used the issue of Lila's father to do it, surely.

"You're telling the truth?" I asked quietly, more like a statement rather than a question.

"Everyone keeps asking me that…yeah, it's true, Mac."

"Oh my god," I said simply, cupping my hands over my mouth. "I just…I…wow."

Veronica gave another sad nod before she turned to me fully, "You can't tell anyone, Mac. Please, noone can know about this."

"Veronica," I shushed her by placing my hands over hers, which were frantically flying around in panic. "I wouldn't tell a soul, I swear."

"Pinky swear?" Veronica joked.

"Cross my heart and hope to die," I laughed.

* * *

**VERONICA**

After that day at the mall, I mentally crossed Mac off of my list of people to tell about Lila's father. Funny that the actual man himself wasn't near the top of that hypothetical list…

So I freaked out at the mall, perhaps I should have rethought telling Mac about the whole situation, but I think that that was part of why keeping that secret was killing me – I needed to tell someone.

When I had come across Don Lamb that day in the mall, the only thing I had really seen when I looked at him were my daughter's eyes and that was why I had frozen up. One of the only two things I could see Don Lamb in our daughter was his eyes and his stupid smirk, the same that I had grown to detest. But I had lived with those eyes for 16 years, and grown to love them and dislike them at the same time.

When I looked at Don – I guess I'd have to start acting like a mature adult soon and start calling him by his first name – all I could see was Lila.

On the bright side of my chance encounter with him I had learned that Lila certainly hadn't told him yet – which side of that was bright, I'm not sure but it gave her, and I some time.

"Oh, mom, seriously?" Lila asked me in disbelief as she took out yet another ugly handmade ornament for the Christmas tree. "Unlucky you didn't have any siblings, then at least you'd be able to pin these-" she held up a series of badly painted baubles, "on someone besides yourself."

"Ha. Ha, very funny. I personally think that my shoddy Christmas decorations kick yours in the bauble ass any day," I replied. Lila held her hand over her heart as she faked an overdramatic gasp.

"Oh you did not!"

We both laughed. Finally things were getting as close to normalcy between us as they had been before the whole "father" revelations had come to light. I had missed it.

"JD's parents invited me to go up to San Francisco with them for New Years Eve," Lila said casually, as if she was building up to ask me this question all along – which she probably was.

"Really? That was nice of them," I said, putting my hands on my hips as I considered it.

"So, would I be able to go?" Lila asked.

I opened my mouth to give her my answer, when I remembered that I had already made plans for New Years Eve, and the week surrounding it.

"You would…but we already have plans for New Years."

"We do?" Lila asked uncertainly.

"We're going to Aspen with the Echolls," I reminded her in a 'duh' voice that would have made Lilly proud. When Lila gave me a look that clearly said 'I have no idea what you're talking about,' while still looking a little agitated, I continued sheepishly, running a hand over the back of my head, "or did I forget to mention that?"

* * *

**A/N Remember many centuries ago when I revealed Lila's father and Veronica was on the phone to Logan...(tumbleweed rolls past)...well that's what the phone call was about. Hehe this should be fun...the Echolls', Mars' and Casablancas' clans cooped up in the same place for a week...**

**Anyway, thanks a million to everyone who has reviewed in the past, it really does mean a lot. You know I love to hear from you, so keep on doing it! **

**Thanks for reading once again! **

**Peace.**

* * *


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